The remote mountains of West Virginia delivered their verdict in the 1926 midterm elections, and Pocahontas County voters showed their trademark independence by splitting their tickets decisively. Democratic Congressman J. Alfred Taylor carried the county with 2,492 votes to his opponent's 1,958, while Republican Dr. George Hull won the state legislature seat. The complete election returns from all precincts except Mace show voters carefully picking and choosing across party lines—Democrats S.L. Brown won county clerk and A.C. Barlow took county commissioner, while Republicans C.E. Flynn claimed county superintendent and D.O. Adkison secured circuit clerk, all by impressive margins. Beyond politics, the front page chronicles the dramatic capture of fugitive Tom Spence, who had been on the run since June after killing State Trooper James L. Lowe near Richwood in an ambush following a moonshine raid. Private Charles E. Tidd of the State Police and Sheriff W.H. Barlow tracked Spence to John Coleman's home on Viney Mountain near Hillsboro, where he surrendered without resistance on October 27th. A $200 Greenbrier County reward awaits the local man who helped locate the killer.

These election results reflect the broader Democratic surge sweeping the nation in 1926, as voters delivered a stinging rebuke to Republican economic policies. The paper notes Democrats appear poised to control the Senate after defeating GOP incumbents in Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma—a massive shift that would complicate Calvin Coolidge's final two years in office. Meanwhile, the Tom Spence manhunt illustrates the ongoing battle between law enforcement and bootleggers in Prohibition-era Appalachia, where remote mountains provided perfect cover for illegal distilling operations. The deadly ambush of state troopers reflects how violent the enforcement of the Volstead Act had become by the mid-1920s.

• Elections in early Edray were conducted without ballots—the 'Conductor of Election' simply asked each voter 'Who do you vote for?' and recorded their spoken choice
• G.W. 'Bud' Alderman was fined $20 per hide after officers found 4 green raccoon pelts in his outhouse during a search—a hefty $80 total plus court costs for hunting out of season
• The Edray Post Office got its name when Bible-reading Mrs. Eliza Moore suggested 'Edrel' from Numbers 21:33, which was modified to 'Edray' around 1850
• Wallace's Carbolic Salve cost just 15 cents per box for healing hands roughened by corn shucking, while Wallace's Frost Cream sold for 25 cents to whiten and soften skin after household chores
• D.N. Weiford built his Covington store from a $1,000 grocery inventory in 1921 to a $25,000 department store by 1926—and he was only 26 years old

• The Edray Church mentioned cost exactly $2,032.25 to build in 1863—about $44,000 today—with twenty thousand feet of white pine lumber delivered for just $10 per thousand feet
• George P. Moore became America's oldest postmaster, serving Edray from the time he came of age until his death in 1922, making him a 70+ year postal veteran
• That $200 reward for capturing Tom Spence equals about $3,200 today—serious money for Depression-approaching 1926
• Robert Moore Sr. lived to age 90 (1768-1858), meaning he witnessed the entire sweep of early American history from the Revolution through the Civil War in remote West Virginia mountains
• The 1926 Democratic wave mentioned here would set the stage for Al Smith's 1928 presidential nomination—the first Catholic ever nominated by a major party