Both Jean Freeland, who lives in Ohio, and Eric Keenan, who lives in Texas have provided photographs and a great deal of information for inclusion on this website.  Both have graciously shared their reseach and helped the author identify and correct errors.

Jean Freeland is the widow of Ray Leonard Freeland, Jr.  Ray Leonard Jr. was the son of Iva Belle Hall and Ray Leonard Freeland, Sr., whom Iva Belle married after she was widowed.  Jean said that she became very close to her mother-in-law, Iva Belle, and her sister-in-law, Georgia Jeffers, after she and Ray were married in 1942.

According to Jean, Iva Belle,  told her that George Preston Jeffers was murdered by a man named Sam McCausland during a dispute about a horse.   Jean described Iva Belle telling her that although a court in West Virginia had awarded Iva Belle monies as a result of the death, Iva Belle moved to Ohio to be near her parents because she became frightened after Sam McCausland and "his men" circled her house one night carrying torches.  She said that Iva Belle told her that she left West Virginia because she was afraid that Sam McCausland might burn the house down with her and the children inside.  According to Jean, it was Iva Belle's need to work that caused her daughter Georgia Jeffers to be raised by Iva Belle's parents, William D. Hall & Rachel Jane Devore.

In 2009, Eric Keenan traveled from Texas to West Virginia to visit family and conduct genealogical research, and kindly took the time to find information related to the story that Iva Belle told Jean Freeland.   Although he did not discover how the case was resolved, he did find several news articles and other information.  It turns out that Sam McCausland was the son of a Confederate General named John McCausland who earned some degree of fame by burning a Pennsylvania town during the Civil War, refusing to surrender or to take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States after the War, and leaving the country until President Grant assured him that he would not be arrested if he returned.   The following photos and articles speak for themselves:

General McAusland's Mansion

It was rumored that the turret on top served as a "watch tower," however, it was actually installed for improved ventilation.