Ed Haley
| James Edward "Ed" Haley | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Edward Haley |
| Also known as | "Blind Ed" Haley |
| Born | August 16, 1885 Warren, Logan County, West Virginia, United States |
| Died | February 3, 1951 (aged 65) |
| Genres | Old time |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano |
| Years active | 1888 to 1951 |
| Labels | Ed Haley Record Company |
| Associated acts | John W. Hager, Lawrence Hicks, Ella Haley, Bernie Adams, Moses Dalton |
James Edward "Ed" Haley (August 16, 1885 – February 3, 1951) was a blind professional American musician and composer best known for his fiddle playing.
Ed Haley was born on August 16, 1885 on the Trace Fork of Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia. At the time of Ed's birth, Upper Hart was known as Warren. Ed's father, Thomas Milton Haley, was a well-known fiddler in the Guyandotte and Big Sandy valleys. His grandfather, Benjamin R. Haley, was an active Unionist in the Big Sandy River Valley during the American Civil War, as well as a fiddler. Ed's mother, Imogene "Emmy" Mullins, was a daughter of Andrew Jackson and Chloe (Gore) Mullins, and descended from "Money Makin' Sol" Mullins, Appalachia's famous counterfeiter. Milt and Imogene married on March 22, 1884 in Logan County. Ed was an only child.
At the age of three years, Ed contracted measles and subsequently lost his eyesight. Local tradition blames his father for his blindness. Reportedly, Milt dipped Ed head-first into ice cold water when he was crying from fever.
In September 1889, as part of the Lincoln County Feud, Milt Haley was accused along with Green McCoy of shooting Al Brumfield and his wife in Harts, Lincoln County, West Virginia. In mid-October, 1889, Haley and McCoy were captured in Martin County, Kentucky, returned to West Virginia, and murdered by a lynch mob at Green Shoal on October 24, 1889. Haley's and McCoy's brutal slaying garnered nationwide news coverage.
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