Virginia - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

African American, Mulatto Muses

hostile239 — 27 Sep 2007 3:55:54 GMT

Hello,

I am looking for any information related to Muses who migrated to Maryland.
I am especially interested in Muses related to Franklin
Marshall Muse, Mother: Ida May Ross, father unknown.
Ida May Muse is listed a a widow, but no information on what Muse she married is available, as anyone with that information is now deceased.

Thank you,

D.M.Muse

Robert Hume's "Early Child Immigrants to Virgina 1619-1642"

bstevens_ca — 3 Jul 2007 7:03:40 GMT

Hi,

If anyone has this book, could they please do a lookup for me?

Thank you,

Barb Stevens

Black Drawing Salve by D. Smith - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

My grandfather, who would be 116 if still alive, used to carry his own little first aid kit around in the form of - "black drawing salve". I cannot imagine what was in that stuff, the smell was awful, but you can take my word for it - he used it on infected teeth, cuts, bruises , eye styes etc. He would even put small amounts around the inside of his nose when he had a head cold - to "clear his head up". You name the problem, he had the cure - Black drawing salve.

Anybody else here subjected to that stuff?? To this day I can conjure up THAT smell.

Regards
D. Smith

A Whole Lot of Bull and No Fish

Don Conner — 24 Nov 2001 5:23:43 GMT

Rock District, Mercer, WV. - by Arthur L. Davidson

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Ole Paul:::::now you are talking about "down home" stuff. Rock is in Rock
District, Mercer, WV. Sure nuf Rock is within a few minutes of Lashmeet,
Spanishburg, and the horse-shoe(like the Burma Rd.) curve at Kegley. The
long gone Shawnee Lake Amusement Park, down the road, but north of Kegley,
at Clover Bottom, was the main recreational site back then and there. My home
town of Montcalm is only about two and one half miles from Rock. That's the
winding road route, not the way the crow flies. Use to be some moon shiners
down in them parts, that just might beat the crow. A guy by the name of
Crumpecker, right after WW2, that was elected Sheriff, running on the slate that
he was going to find all them thar' stills. He followed up by using airplanes to
locate the smoke. But, shortly after he took office, a miner's strike at Goodwill,
developed into a shoot em' up party. Mr. Crumpecker succumbed of an
un-natural cause, before he got to the mine in Goodwill holler. Anyhow, Giatto
area was where some of my Father's sibs were born, between Matoaka and
McComas. Some of these surrounding areas have been repossessed by Mother
Nature. Most difficult to find evidence of once thriving communities, in some of
this home territory. What is your connection for having been seen in them parts?
Are you from Wyoming County?

Ol'Arthur

Favorite People: Uncle J.W. - Floyd County

Don Conner — 19 Oct 2001 12:08:57 GMT

Crow Holler

Bonnie Shiner — 2 Feb 2004 5:52:44 GMT

If you hear a crow holler in the holler, then youre in one for a while

Harvey Looney

hdmllooney — 5 Sep 2003 8:24:57 GMT

I am at work and do not have any specific information with me but there is a family story about my relative Harvey Looney shooting the sheriff Oscar Martin in southern Virginia(New Castle, Giles County?) in the early half of the 1900's. I was told by family that Looney escaped from jail but others told me there was a trail. I would love to have any information someone might have on this event. The only thing I have is an obit for Martin and family stories. Thanks.

Memories are Amazing Things

Don Conner — 28 Oct 2001 10:29:00 GMT

Water Dog

Mike Lefler — 6 Mar 2003 8:41:21 GMT

While groveling (1950's) in Cove Creek where Cove Rd now crosses Interstate 77 just before Wytheville, we'd beek catchin a couple of red-eyes and small bass when all of a sudden I was confronted with......a Water-Dog!!! Was anyone ever as lucky?

the old day

vicki — 16 Feb 2003 1:02:55 GMT

Mary Emma (French) BurtonOf Giles County

farmgirl251 — 30 Jan 2003 4:05:49 GMT

Mary Emma was know to put on a "Big Spread" of food when there were people to feed which was very often. She took in anybody including the sick and those in trouble. There are stories told of her taking in a wanted criminal. She fed and clothed him then sent him on down the mountain but not before the police arrived looking for this fugitive and she politely told them that there was no such person here and they need to just get on down the mountain.
There are also tales of her taking in a 2nd wanted man and also feeding and clothing him but this time when the police arrived they knew he was there. Mary Emma wouldn't let the policeman take the fugitive until he had finished his meal. The police waited for him to eat and then took him on down the mountain.
She also took in a fellow that was no kin to our family but we called him "Cousin Bill" He had VERY bad arthritis and he lived his days out there in her home while she took care of this bedridden man. He was treated like a member of the family by her and the rest of the Burtons.
She didn't have running water in her mountain home and there were long walks to the natural spring for many years until finally she was able to get a spring house built and the water was then brought to her backyard. She kept her butter, milk and eggs in there to keep them cool. She was very particular about her spring house and a good way to make her mad would be to go inside. She would gladly show you her spring house but don't try to step foot inside or you would surly get a wippin.

WELCOME!!

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Welcome to the Message Board for
"Folklore, Legends & Family Stories of Virginia"

You may post a story etc. yourself or I will be glad to do it for you. E-mail me at bobnroa@pipeline.com for assistance.

You people have such great stories to tell and they really should to be shared with everyone.

So type your heart out!!
You can put anything on the board - well, almost anything! :-)
And you can also post attachments - Pictures etc.
And Have Fun!!

Barb S.
Board Administrator
bobnroa@pipeline.com

Good Time Helping Each Other by Clyde Maxey

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

What about corn shuckin, wood gittin, lassie bilin, hog killin and thrahin
machines, fish frin, ( with fish seined from the river) land clearin and the
list goes on. It didn't take much for folks to get together to help each
other or just to have a "good time"

jist ole clyde

Digging Roots by Paul Collins

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

My dad used to go back in the mountains on the "Nine Mile Spur" in Wise
Co. and dig roots all day..he would bring a sackful of roots back home
and the kids would wash and clean them up..Dad would let them lie around
and dry for a long time and take them somewhere (dont know where) and
sell them...he would dig Black Cohosh, Bloodroot, Yellowroot, Mayapple
Root, and Ginseng..also my wifes Granny Dulaney would make catnip tea
and we would put it in our babys bottles to drink..they seemed to like
it..does Black Cohosh grow in FCVA? Ole Clyde has probably dug it all
up by now..we would go with Dad to pick huckleberries in the mountains
..NOT blueberries..these grew on bushes as high as your head and were
almost as big as cherries..when all of us emptied our buckets, it would
fill up a No. 2 washtub..
Ole Paul

Does anyone remember Maud Mary (West Virginia)

Sharyn — 22 Jul 2002 7:44:07 GMT

I remember my grandmother telling me about a lady named Maud Mary who lived in the hills of West Virginia and was believed to be a witch. I wonder if she really existed. Were my grandmother's stories of Maud Mary true or just folklore? Anyone with any info, please email slisis@att.net Thank you!

When I'm Sixty-four - Submitted by Edgar Vest

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

"Growing Up In The Country" by Rena Worthen, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I don't know what to start this with, but I walked 2 or 3 miles to catch the school bus. and no matter what the weather was, i don't think they canceled school, at least not the way they do now.

I would always take my lunch which consisted of a BIG biscuit, with saucage,or a canned porkchop, or a fried egg and a slab of bacon. Now i can remember the boys always wanting to trade me a white bread sandwich for my big biscuit. Now that i look back on it, i think i got cheated.

Saturday night, we would play the radio, Which operated by a battery about the size of a car battery, best I remember. and they played the "Grand Ole Opery" Only two or three hours. The news is the only other thing we listened to, and sometimes preaching on Sunday.

All my clothes were hand made, the quilts were hand sewn, each little block and stuffed with cotton, we had to use several to keep warm, There was no heat in the house, other than a wood stove, and many nights the snow would blow through the cracks in the house. I studied by an oil lamp, no wonder i'm half blind now. Once it snowed so hard, we had to dig a tunnel under the snow to get to the barn to feed the cows. Grandma heated snow in a pan on the wood stove and made water for the animals to drink. We would make snow ice cream, i would always get a sore throat from that.

We raised most of our food in a large garden I think it must have been near 2 acres of it. and we had one of the largest grape harbors around. People came from different houses and bought grapes home for their families.

Oh! yes about the Johnnie house, many times when you went there the snake would be there waiting on the rafter for you. That just about scared the notion right out of me.

I was 14 or 15 the first time we lived in a house with electricity a phone and running water.

Just a few of my thoughts.
Rena

Bowman Letter - Submitted by Clyde Maxey

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Home Life in the 30's.... by Paul Collins

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Life in Floyd County During WW2 by Jack Spangler

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Anybody Remember? by Jack Spangler

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Anybody remember (in no particular order):

1. The old one wire telephone system and party lines
2. US221 as a gravel road south to Roanoke
3. The upgrade of US221 up Bent Mountain using convict labor
4. Dr. Jones, the chiropractor, weekly visits to Floyd
5. The shirt factory
6. The covered bridge on Possum Holler Road
7. The military airplane crash near Rocky Knob during WW2
8. Hearing Archie Naff preach
9. Experiences with Miss Nellie B. Slusher the school teacher
10. Going to school the Oxford’s Academy building and using slates instead
of paper
11. Going to school in the building now the "rag shop" and the
constructyion of the new high school
12. The fourth of July parades in Floyd.
13. The loafers sitting on the courthouse cement wall chewing tobacco and
having spitting contests
14. The moonshine stills
15. Tall tales by some "really old timers"
16. Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
17. The copper mines
18. The Civil War and WW1 Vets honored at a July 4 celebration
19. WW2 Victory Bond and savings stamps auctions
20. Country music performers at the Floyd High School auditorium
21. Collecting milk weed pods and aluminum drives during WW2
22. The FFA boys packing wool and processing turkeys at the school
23. Curtis Turner
24. Tom Rakes Chevrolet dealership
25. The all day "Big Meeting" at Pine Creek Church

Jack Spangler
Ellicott City, MD

About Horsehair Snakes by Cheryl

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

About horsehair snakes--- that is exactly what your skinny little swimming friend was. There really is a watersnake called that and it does look like one. One of my mom's favorite stories of growing up is about one of them that she caught and kept in a bucket for a few days before she released it. I just hope it wasn't in one of granddad's milk buckets. YUCK!!

Cheryl in Maryland
SW Virginia mountains are calling !!!

Another Horsetail Hair Story by Clyde Maxey

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

When I was a child I was told that if you took a hair from the tail of a horse and put it through a grain of corn, throw it out where the crows were taking up corn that it would strangle them to death. I tried it but never saw
any crows flying around with a horse hair hanging out of their mouths. As a matter of fact I didn't see any dead either

jist ole clyde

Little Snakey Thing by Paul Collins

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Now, years ago, some old man told me that if you pull a horsehair out of a horses tail and put it in water, it will turn into a snake....I snickered to myself, hee, hee,
Am I a dummy?...
I forgot all about that until about 30 years ago, I was
at the MfcCoy Falls in New River..close to the bank in shallow water, I saw a very thin thing swimming like a snake does..I got a pail and scooped it up and took it home..all the family was amazed at this little "thing" ..it was just a little thicker than a horsehair and looked exactly like a snake,
wth a little "thickening" where a snakes head would be..Thought once about taking it over to VA Tech and let them analyze it..we kept it a few days and let it loose on our creek..it swam away..
Can someone tell me what that was?
Ole Clyde,,your turn..
Ole Paul

Spring Houses, Crawdads, Butter Churns etc. by Diane

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Paul and Cylde -- I truly enjoy reading your stories every day. Your stories bring back
so many fond memories for me. Don't ever stop with the stories about Floyd Co., VA!! Do you remember
spring houses and catching "crawdads " out of the water trough your drinking water came from? Do you remember
skimming the cream and bit's of butter outta that churn still sittling in the spring house after fresh butter was made?
Did you ever have to wander through a cow pasture with your parent/grandparent looking for and cutting greens
for dinner? Were those called mustard greens? I certainly remember the "chinka pins" and wish I could find some
today, as they taste so good. I also remember a swinging bridge across little river (it still exists today). I played
on this particular bridge every morning
prior to catching a school bus. This bridge still exists today on what's now called Indian Valley Road, but when I played there
as a child waiting on a school bus was called Snowsville, VA. Is this the same swinging bridge Clyde mentioned or was that
a different bridge?

Submitted by:
Diane
Montgomery County, VA

Strength and Endurance of our Fathers and Grandfathers by Paul Collins

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Edgar..speaking of your Dad building that road up Mattox Mtn..
My son who is 38 years old is still amazed at the strength and endurance
our fathers (and grandfathers) had..I remember my Dad coming home from
work when he worked for the WPA (most people dont know what that
was)..we would run down the hill to meet him and carry his lunch bucket
home, with the hopes of finding an uneaten biscuit in it..
He wore blue denim shirts and the back of his shirt was ALWAYS white,
where he had sweated the salt out of his body doing that WPA work..He
was strict, and did not like "foolishness" from us kids.. when he said
"hellfire and damnation", we knew to run, as that was about the only
"cusswords" he used..he was born in 1866 and fathered 21
children..outlived both his wives and 3 of his children.. those
old-timers were MEN!

Contributed by:
Ole Paul (Paul Collins)

Road from South of Roanoke River to top of Mattox Mountain by Edgar L. Vest

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I know most of the old timers are passing away and there are very few people that remember the original road that went from the south fork of Roanoke River to top of Mattox Mountain. One of the first trails came from s.r. 653 as you entered Floyd County from Montgomery County. The bridge was known as "The Iron Bridge" and the the trail turned off of s.r. 653 after crossing "The Iron Bridge" to the right and was very steep climb to top of Mattox Mountain. This was only for foot travel as it was only what could be carried by people and/or animals. This was used by settlers traveling west as told to me. Then the second road or trail was a few miles south on s.r. 653 (Shawsville Pike) about a half mile before intersection s.r. 660. This road turned right and twisted up the mountain to to of Mattox Mountain. About three fourths the way up mountain a curve was so sharp that to get a automobile around the curve it had to back up at least once to get around curve. The last road was a one mile section from s.r. 660 to top of Mattox Mountain. It is not part of the State Hwy road system at this time. It was assigned a s.r. number at one time. The 1999 Floyd County road map list it as GRAHAM LANE. It is my desire that a record be made of the first mile of road from s.r. 660 to top of Mattox Mountain was built by my dad James Noah Vest. He did have a few others work occasionally to help build this section. But he did most of the work that consisted of pick and shovel, star drilling by hand to use dynamite to loosen the heavy rock that he was unable to break with other means. He was no surveyor, but later was told that it was the best layout that could have been made by a surveyor.
Contributed by:
Edgar L. Vest

Indian Raid at Trap (Trappe)1740's

frost7481 — 16 Mar 2002 6:48:37 GMT

Oral family history indicates Indian Raid at Trap (Trappe) all family killed but one. Need to verify other families' decendants possibly surviving raid.1740's

Old Floyd County - by Rena Worthen - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

9-15-1896 Tuesday The Roanoke Times

OLD FLOYD COUNTY
T. R. Tanner has just returned from a business trip through the free state
of Floyd. He said the people up there have quit working on the roads
entirely, and it is the next thing to impossible to drive over them. Mr.
Tanner succeeded in breaking down a brand new wagon, but he brought back to
his Roanoke friends a mountain rattler that contained nineteen rattles and
was unusually large in rattles. Acording to Mr. Tanner Floyd is up to date
in bad roads, good water, rattle-snakes, and moonshine.

US Arsenic Mines, Pilot Mountain, Floyd County, Va.

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Rena asked me to post this picture of workers at the
US Arsenic Mines, Pilot Mountain, Floyd County Va.

"Please add this to a place where the group can view
it, Billy Howard gave me this some time ago. Maybe
someone can add the names to it. Wouldn't that be
great.
Rena"

The Cat Came Back

Don Conner — 3 Dec 2001 9:32:08 GMT

I grew up in the country, in Floyd County, VA. As is the case on most farms, we had an overabundance of cats, only one of which was a good "mouser" and worth her salt. My brother was working in Northfork, WVA, and one Sunday, as we were at the car seeing he and his wife off from visiting us, Mama suddenly asked Bob, "Did you get that small sack of potatos you were going to take home from the garden"? "No, I didn't", he replied, and went up to our cellar building and came back with a burlap sack, which he threw in the trunk of the car.

I was about 8-9 years old at the time, and quite gullible, so I did not put two and two together, even after I noticed at nightfall that all the cats were gone except the one good mouser. I said something to my grandfather, who lived with us, and he just said, "Well, I guess they all just decided to run away". I put it out of my mind.

About a month later, ALL the missing cats showed up together at milking time. I told my grandfather, "Well, I guess they just decided to come home". It was not until many years later that my brother told me the whole story. He had caught all the cats except the one, put them in the burlap sack, and took them with him in the car when he left. He told where, on Rte. 8, he stopped, opened the sack, and let them all out. I made a special trip to the spot to mark the distance, and it was 14 miles from our house. It took the cats a month, but every one of them found their way back.

Does anyone else out there have similiar stories from personal experiences of animals finding their way back home from great distances? If so, please share them with me on this site.

Rolling Hoops by Clyde Maxey, Floyd Co.

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I just recently measured the distance form where we lived to the school on Lick Ridge and it was almost exactly 2 miles. Some children walked farther than this and I don't remember them ever closing the school due to weather.

It was a one room school with double desks. If you were acting up you were made to sit with a person of the opposite sex. I think they stopped this "punishment" about the third grade.

I have told you all of this to talk about rolling hoops to school. This morning The Roanoke Times has a picture of a person rolling a hoop with a wire. I rolled one of these to school many times. The hoop came from the hub of a wagon wheel and the wire from the rod that came with roll roofing. which brings more memories.

Roll roofing or rubber roofing as some called it came with a saucer shaped ;piece of metal on each end with a rod of about 3/16" running through the roll to hold the whole thing together. In side of the roll was one or two, I can't remember which, cans of coal tar to seal the roofing when it was installed. The rods were used for several things but I used one to make the hoop roller. This wire had to be bent just right and held on the hoop just right to make it go. You pushed it up hill with the wire behind the hoop and
when going down hill you hooked the wire inside the hoop to keep it from rolling too fast. I thought it was a lot of fun but in todays world it wouldn't be anything.

One more thing and then I will quit remembering for awhile, my memories can get boring to others.

My daddy showed me a type of bumble bee that didn't have a stinger. They were usually on old fence rails, Maybe they were drones, I don't know. I do know they were larger than usual and had a white head.

I thought I knew exactly what they were untill I caught the wrong kind and got stung. That ended my bumble bee catching and this ends my memories for now.

jist ole clyde

Uncle Johns' Big Red Rooster By G. Lee Hearl

G. Lee Hearl — 24 Nov 2001 11:39:40 GMT

Uncle Johns' Big Red Rooster By G. Lee Hearl
It was during the great depression of the 1930s when uncle John brought one
of his prize game roosters and some hens to our place, hoping mama would
raise some chicks from them... All summer that Big Red Rooster roamed around
the farm, whipping the other roosters and claiming his territory..
In late summer, the fighting rooster began flogging anyone who walked by
him.
This grew worse as time passed and us small children couldn't go near him..
It was on Thanksgiving morning when he made his fatal mistake, he jumped on
my Dad! He kicked that Red Rooster and broke its neck! Mama immediately put
on a pot of water and prepared to make chicken and dumplings and that made
all the children happy and we ran out into the yard to play and sing
"She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain when she comes....."
"We'll kill the old red Rooster when she comes...we'll kill the Old Red
R..."
Uncle John showed up unexpectedly for dinner that day and after gorging
himself on chicken and dumplings, he leaned back and said, "That was mighty
good! Mighty Good!". Then he asked, "How is my Big Red Rooster doing?"
Mama said, "Not too good, we just ate him!" ..
G. Lee Hearl
Authentic Appalachian Storyteller
Abingdon, Va.

Twas the night before Christmas 2001........from Beverly Merritt, Franklin County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Proud and Thankful To Have Been There by Arthur Davidson, Mercer County, WV

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

"Arthur L. Davidson" wrote:

Are you aged enough to have lived in the '30's?
In the hill country of Appalachian area?
Are you still proud of having had the experience?
Are you fortunate enough to remember?::::::::::
.....the first time that you had 'light' bread;
.....your refrigerator being the cold stream behind the house;
.....stoking the fire at night;
.....never having to take a wash tub bath in the summer months;
.....that a rail road track was between your house house and your out house;
.....where you lived when you had your first out house in the house;
.....the much too hot red hot stove pipe that went through the wall;
.....when, if you had a wooden nickel, you would have felt rich;
.....that there were no locks on the doors of your house;
.....the long johns with the trap door;
.....that people being baptized in the cold river water did not get sick;
.....the hot tar bubbles on the road that you used for chewing gum;
.....the meals consisting only of baloney and brown gravy;
.....having your tooth pulled with only the tools of a string and a door;
.....when a person's word was their bond---handshake not required.

Proud and thankful to have been there........Mercer Co., WV.

Arthur

"The Story of Freeda Bolt" - Blue Ridge Institute and Museum - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Daniel Boone and the Bear by G. Lee Hearl - Washington County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Hard Times and Christmas by G. Lee Hearl - Washington County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I came up during the Great Depression when times were hard!
The Christmas catalogs arrived about the first of October and we had worn
them out by December, looking and wishing and making lists to send to Santa
Claus.. We gave mama our lists to mail but I suspect now that they never got
mailed, because she didn't have the 3 cents it cost to mail a letter at that
time... Any way, it seemed that Santa never stopped at our house and I know,
my parents felt really bad about.it. One Christmas eve they told us to go to
bed and maybe Santa would come! We went to bed but naturally, we couldn't go
to sleep! After about an hour, we heard a loud Bang! We jumped out of bed
and ran into the front room. Daddy came in the door with his shotgun and
said, "That'll teach him to go by without stoppin'!"
"What happened?" we asked.. Daddy said, "I saw Santa going over our house
without stoppin' so I shot one of his reindeers!"
We didn't get any toys that year but we had plenty of deer meat to eat!!

G. Lee Hearl
Authentic Appalachian Storyteller
Abingdon, Va..
http://hearlshill.freeservers.com/index.html

From Botetourt Normal School to Daleville Acadmy - Botetourt County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

In the village of Daleville a "Select" school was started for the children of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Nininger and Mr. and Mrs. George Layman, Jr. The school opened in Sept., 1890 in a small one-story house near the Nininger home. Before winter came, however, the school was moved to a large upper room over the kitchen and dining room of the Nininger home. Professor I.N.H. Beahm was lured away from the Roanoke City School System to teach the select school of 12 pupils. The second session was conducted in a room over the kitchen and dining room of the George Layman, Jr. home.

Many Dunkard families became interested in the school by the time the first school year ended. Applications for admittance were received in such numbers that a two-story building was built in 1891 on land donated by Benjamin F. Nininger. This was the beginning of the school first known as Botetourt Normal School which evolved into Daleville College and during the waning years, Daleville Academy. Seventy- three pupils were enrolled the first year and three additional teachers were employed to assist Professor Beahm.
From: "Places Near the Mountains" by Prillaman

The Kings of Mt.Solon, Augusta County

Rev. Cynthia Forde — 17 Oct 2001 10:58:29 GMT

Who was Harry? It is as strange a tale as ever been told. The tale began to leave a paper trail in Mitchell County, Iowa on December 28, 1896, when Harry Bernard King acquired a marriage license listing his birth place as Mt. Solon, Augusta County, VA, December 17, 1866. He wrote with his own hand that his mom was Anna Moore b. in VA and his father was John King b. in VA. The 1900 and 1910 Worth County, Iowa census states the same information! Harry died in 1919 - and his obituary tells the same strange story of Harry's birth in VA - that he spent his young manhood in VA - that his mom died in 1870 when he was four ... in VA! and his dad died in 1880 when he was 14.... in VA! It even tells the tale that his dad, John King, was an officer in the CSA.

Not a trace is to be found of John King and Anna Moore; no tax record, no marriage record, no birth certificate for Harry... not one record of Harry Bernard King in the entire USA in 1880.

Were there Kings living in Mt. Solon, Augusta County??? According to The Valley of the Shadow, they were there during the years 1860-1864.... but are they found on the Augusta County census???????????? Nope!

Now, why would a good Virginia orphan boy not be found in any state in the USA - and especially in VA???? in 1880? Why would a Virginian leave that wonderful state and move to northern IA!!!! It is an amazing tale ... too strange for fiction.
cf

Covered Bridge - Floyd County

jistoleclyde — 19 Oct 2001 11:13:49 GMT

A Virginia Grandmother - Franklin County

DorisSink75 — 8 Mar 2002 4:06:53 GMT

Horse Tales - Floyd County

Don Conner — 19 Oct 2001 11:16:37 GMT

Buried Potatoes and Butchering Day - Floyd County

DorothyBowles85 — 19 Oct 2001 11:17:47 GMT

I have buried pototoes in the hole in the ground. We plowed out 60 bushels one year with the help of a mule called "ole Bob." Neighbors around here still bury them in the ground. We used straw to insulate the hole. Butching time was a grand affair. neighbors came and spent the day and as many as 10 hogs were killed. The men killed, scalded and cut up the hogs, while the women ground the shoulders of the hogs into sausage, hams were sugar cured, salted and sewed in to large white sacks and hung in the "meathouse" this was all done by the women of the neighbors. I still have a scar on my finger from cutting the skin off these peices of meat before they could by grounded into sausage. Dinner on the ground was sausage biscuits and home canned cucumber pickles.one day was used to canned sausage, tenderlion. The next day was to render lard outside in a large pot to make soap. Lordy, Lordy, I had forgot how hard I had to work on that dang farm. We never went hungry and there was 7 of us no welfare either.
Dorothy Jo

Old Sayings by John Webb - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

There are old sayings that were passed down in my family that must have Floyd County roots. Has anyone heard this one that is said in response to someone who quickly changed the topic of conversation?:
"A man ain't got no business drinkin' 'round a sawmill"

Or this one in response to a gift: "That's just what I was a'lookin for."

John Webb

Whippinf etc - Floyd County

jistoleclyde — 19 Oct 2001 11:18:41 GMT

Sam Hall went to a one room school where his sister was the teacher. One day at recess he and another boy got into a fight and sam whipped him. The teacher brought them both in and gave the a whipping for fighting. After they "took up books" Sam got to teasing the other boy saying you got 2 whipppings and I just got one. The teacher heard him and called him to the front and proceeded to wear him out. She said I guess you are both even now. Sam said that was the hardest whipping he ever got in his life.

Some where in the twenties a forest fire swept through the Lick Ridge area of Floyd County. It was the biggest fire anyone had ever seen and several people lost barns and personal items in addition to their timber.
My Aunt Pearl Eanes took all of their clothes and bedding out in the middle of a field thinking the fire would destroy the house. The fire missed the house but burned up all of the items she had put in the field.Her daughter, Hazel, said the neighbors brought them beddinf and clothes.

In the mid teens the Maxey Boys, sons of William Washington and Lydia Hall Conner, had a well drilling machine as well as a sawmill. These were powered by stem engines.
Uncle Charlie's wife had knitted him a new sock cap and he was the "sawyer' and daddy was fireing the engine. Daddy said he saw a spark leave the smoke stack and light in Uncle Charlie's handlebar mustache. He smelled something burning and thought the spark had landed in his head. He kept brushing it untill the spark hit meat and then he knew where it had went.

Ducks - Floyd County

jistoleclyde — 19 Oct 2001 12:07:21 GMT

Tthis is mostly for Don Conner but thought the rest might enjoy it too.

When I was a teenager, I had some ducks that I kept mostly to say I had ducks. Every spring they would take off down the spring branch and when they got to the river, West Fork of Little River, they would go up stream. Seems that is the nature of ducks is to go up stream when hunting a nest site. I would get me an egg basket and head to J. W. Hylton's farm to bring my ducks and eggs home. Sometimes the foxes would beat me to them but usually they would have a nest in one of his haystacks. I would gather them up and take them home where they would hatch and stay around untill the next spring when it was the same thing asgain. After about three years I just gave up and let them go.

Goose story.
I cna't remember the name of the fellow that worked for Lee Conner who lived on the waters of Dodd Creek, I think. Anyway Lee had a couple of geese and one day when it was raining his man said he thought he would fill them up. Now, I don't know how many opf you know anything about ducks and geese but they will eat until they can't hold any more and then get a drink of water and they are ready to go again. This fellow shelled him a 1/2 bushel of corn and poured some of it out beside the creek where they could get plenty of water. He said he watched for awhile and it looked to him like it was a lot of trouble for them to have to go down to the creek for water so he just poured the balance of the corn over in the creek. They went down there and began to shovel the corn in and drink water at the same time. He said one of them waddled out upon the bank and just turned up it's heels and died. The other moped around for a few days before subccuming to the ills of over eating

Wonder if there is a lesson there somewhere?

jist ole clyde.

Ice etc - Floyd County

jistoleclyde — 19 Oct 2001 12:08:08 GMT

Whistles by Edgar L. Vest - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Yes I forgot about the peppermint and you still find a few plants of peppermint. Also we chewed spice wood, wild cherry bark and slipper elm was also a marvel to me.

Did you ever make a whistle out of chestnut limb sprout? Cut abt. six inches when the sap was in the chestnut, cut a notch, rub a knife over the bark until it was loosened from from the
wood. Slip the bard off the wood and make a small opening at the notch end and cut both ends off the wood and slide the ends back in the bark. It was a little experimentation to get the sound like you wanted it.

Just part of my boyhood.
Edgar L. Vest

Ants in your pants - Floyd County

jistoleclyde — 19 Oct 2001 12:09:44 GMT

A way back about the time ole Paul was born folks used cross cut saws to cut trees, wood etc. Often when you would cut a dead chestnut tree the little black ants would be all over the stump until it was almost black. My grand father and some of his sons were cutting wood and cut such a tree. Now John was a younster and his brother Charlie offered him a penny to pull his pants down and sit bare bottom on the stump for a minute. A penny was a lot of money to a youngn' in those days and there was alot of ants but he decided to take him up on the offer. There arose a problem, no one had a watch!
They agreed to let grandpa count for the minute. Uncle John said" I always thought pa counted for a long time" which he probably did..

jist ole clyde

Rolling Tire by Don Conner, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Clyde mentioned having a hoop which he rolled. Here is my story about rolling another kind of "hoop".

One Sunday after dinner (that's lunch to you flatlanders), Mama walked over to visit our nearest neighbors, Hattie, Mattie, and their mother, Amanda, Dickerson. She left all the dishes on the kitchen table, saying she would clean them up when she came home. Looking out our double windows at the end of the kitchen table, we had a narrow grassy area, bordered by a four foot retaining wall running the length of the house. The wall held back the hillside which sloped upwards for about 1000 feet.

While Mama was gone, my brother (prob about 15 yr old) started rolling around an old tire with a stick, like Clyde did his hoop. Bill was running the tire back and forth across on the cowpaths on the side of the hill above the kitchen window, and I (about 7-8 yrs old) was tagging along.

I kept pestering Bill to let me roll the tire. Finally he relented and here I went. Well, you can guess what is coming......I lost control and the tire went rolling down the hill toward the house. Bill couldn't catch it. It leaped the retaining wall and went right thru the double windows and onto the kitchen table!!!!

What a mess. I hid in the barn when I saw Mama coming home. She was not a strict person, punishment wise, and I never knew what she said to Bill. I just know we were cleaning up that mess into the late evening, and she cried and cried.

I never rolled a "hoop" again. But I do wish I had a slow motion video of that tire going thru those windows.

Breakfast, Dinner and Supper by Clyde Maxey - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Edgar. most of the things you talked about I have experienced,from tack in the shoe to carrying my school lunch in a Karyo syrup bucket. My first cousin used her lunch bucket on my head once and I was glad it was a bought one instead of the Kayro bucket. I think we called them dinner buckets. I still eat breakfast, dinner and supper. There is one thing that don't make for a good dinner and that is a buckwheat cake wrapped around a cake of sausage.
Buckwheat bread is not much when it gets cold.

One thing you left out about the smells in the school room and that it the odor from the shoes of the person that had been hunting the night before and had caught one or more skunks. We didn't have an extra pair of shoes to save just for hunting. The closer to the stove the boy sat the stronger the odor

I once heard of some boys getting some"skunk cabbage" in the spring and rubbing it all over the stove. When the fire was built the whole school had to leave.The odor must be somewhat like what Ole Paul smells like after a week or two
with out a bath.

Kinda wonder what school children would do if they had to bring in the wood or in some cases the coal to heat the room, carry the water from a spring or a well and drink from a common dipper. I have forgotten how to make a drinking cup from a piece of tablet paper.

Do you remember the penny pencils?

jist ole clyde

Gravel Shooters, Shoes, etc. by Edgar L. Vest - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I think Albert King and family took care of the Locust Grove switchboard and he worked on the telephone line that was one strand of galvanized wire and most of the poles were chestnut or locust wood. The wire was fastened to a glass insulator at each pole.

SOME young boys were always using the gravel shooters to practice shooting at the glass insulators. The gravel shooters were mostly made of a Y forked part of mountain laurel or other hardwood. The rubber bands were cut from old automobile inter tubes as they were made of rubber and there was so many tire blow-outs and flats that it was easy to find the inter tubes. The holder was made of a piece of leather, usually a shoe tongue as most shoes were leather and sooner or later had to be discarded. They were half soled and heels replaced as long as possible. But they would get to where the tacks didn't have materiel to clench the sharp tacks. "Wow" did the tacks hurt when a shoe sole wore down and the tack stuck your foot. This usually happened when stepping on a rock in a path or road.

Then sometimes a tack was missed being bradded on the shoe last as a repair was being made. Don't want to forget using the tallow as a coating on the shoes to waterproof the leather. It didn't smell too good when you warmed your feet near stove or fire. Especially if your desk was near the stove in schoolhouse. If you was near the stove it was too hot and if you was at outer edge of room, you stayed cold.

I suppose some of you remember the aviator caps with goggles the boys wore, the sheepskin coats the men wore, the knitted socks made from wool and etc. School lunches were carried in Karo syrup or lard pails. Liked to look for teaberries in the woods and chewed the leaves for the mint flavor. Oh the smell found in the woods in each season of the year can't be described.

Edgar L. Vest
eevest@swva.net

Stray Cat by Paul Collins - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Now, Jehu's house sat very close to a knoll behind his house and if you were up on that knoll, you could see down Jehus chimney..

Oz Sutphin was walking down the road by Jehus house, and he caught a stray cat there and went up on the knoll and THREW it very fast down the chimney..Jehu was sitting by the fireplace and Docia was crocheting in her rocking chair...The cat came yelling out of the fireplace with its fur on fire and ran under the bed, setting the bedspread on fire, and Docia fainted dead away..
Jehu finally got the cat out of the house and said "if I ever find the *%#%$#$%^!! that did this, I will kill him"...

I dont think he ever found out...

Ole Paul

Medicine, Hoop and Scooter by Paul Collins - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I remember selling Cloverine Salve door-to-door, I remember the Grit newspaper...I also remember Ipana toothpaste and saving Blue Horse notebook paper covers to get prizes..
I remember Hadacol..the product that was about 1/2 alcohol and was advertised by a woman who said before taking it,she was not able to spank her child, but after a swig, she could whip her husband....

I also had a hoop that I rolled with a wire..

We would take a roller skate and separate the front 2 wheels and the back 2 wheels, and nail 2 to the back of a 2X4 and 2 to the front..add a tongue from a board and make a scooter..

Ole Paul

Medicine and Molasses by Paul Collins and Clyde Maxey - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Clyde..can you remember the old medicines named Sal Hepatica, Black Draught, and Scalf's Indian River Tonic?

Paul

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
I remember the first two but the last one must be unique to Wise County. We had Castor Oil, Epsom Salts, Hites Pain Remedy and Raymonds little liver pills.etc.

Mother would make our cough syrup from wild cherry bark, wild horehound and honey. It was better than what you bought at the store.

When I was about 5 years old she fried onions and made a poultice to put on my chest for a bad cold. I cannot eat anything with fried onions in it yet today. It is not the taste of the onion, it is the odor.

Another molasses story for Don.......
My grandfather had a cane mill and would "rent" it out to the neighbors and take his pay in molasses which was common it the early days.

He had made his molasses but didn't cook them quite long enough and they were too thin. One morning during breakfast he told my father to go to Mr Joel Eanes and collect his toll for the use of the mill that he was getting tired of chasing the molasses all over his plate trying to catch them. He said Mr Eanes always made good molases. The next morning for breakfast he poured some of Mr Eanes' molasses on his plate and they were thinner than what he had made.

jist ole clyde

Doc Akers by Paul Collins, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Doc Akers was called out one stormy night to a home that was a good distance from his house...after seeing his patient, he started back home on his horse..
A bad sleet and freezing rain storm hit him and after he finally made it home, he was frozen to the saddle...they had to take an ice-pick and chip him loose from the addle...wish my family doctor was like that..

Ole Paul
pogoat2@webtv.net

Fun With Words by Clyde Maxey - Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

When I contacted a person about directions to the Akers Cemetery I was told to stop at their house for additional directions. They further stated that it was the one with a car pot. Now I know about cooking pots wash pots, flower pots and a few more pots but I had never seen a car pot. Needles to say I wondered what this car might be doing on a pot. I even wondered it would be proper for me to stop if the car was on the pot. Much to my surprise and relief, when we got there it was a regular car PORT with the R left out.

jist ole clyde
WMaxey1636@aol.com

Leonard Spangler - Floyd County

JackSpangler — 16 Sep 2006 10:17:03 GMT

Unusual Present by Arthur, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I got to quit washing dishes, as my high school graduation present.

Arthur

Couple in Floyd County by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Once there was a couple in Floyd County whose early married life had a few bumps in it. I appears that there was a lot of fussing going on. One day the husband gets a rope and goes out in the apple orchard and throws it over a limb and ties it to the trunk of the tree. He then ties the other end around his neck in such a manner that as long as he stood on his tip toes he could breathe. Now the Mrs.sees him from her kitchen window, which was what Mr. intended , and divined what he was doing. She goes to the tool shed and gets a maddock and starts digging out from under his feet.

I don't really know what happened, I will leave that to your imagination but I do know they both lived a long and I guess happy life after that. Anyway the raised several children

No, it wasn't ole Paul although I expect his wife feels like hanging him at times

jist ole clyde
WMaxey1636@aol.com

Dr. (Doc) Akers by Paul Collins, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Now, I mentioned that Jehu worked some for Dr. (Doc) Akers...

Doc used to go out on house calls, and his custom, as all people then had fireplaces, was to go in, throw his hat on the bed, and spit in the fireplace....

Once he was called to a home where a lady was to have a baby...he arrived a little late, and her time was getting short, so Doc got so "rattled" that he threw his hat in the fireplace and spit on the bed...

Ole Paul
pogoat2@webtv.net

Telephone, Fear of Lightning etc. by Don Conner, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Heating Stove and Grape Pie Recipe by Mary, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Rena, I also experienced the snow blowing through the cracks around the window but my father was always resourceful in many ways. He cut a square about 10" x 10" out of the ceiling right over the living room heating stove. My sister and I slept in a room right above the stove so we had a little heat when we went to bed. Also daddy usually rebuilt the fire before we got up in the mornings which helped on those coldest mornings.

You mentioned grapes. I have a great grape pie recipe if anyone is interested. You have to use the Concord type grape that is ripening at this time.

Boil grapes until the skins pop open. Then put them in a colander and press them until you have enough juice to make two cups. Discard the skin and seeds.
Cook, over low heat until thickened and glossy, two cups of grape juice with 1 cup of sugar and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple. Cool slightly and pour into 9" baked pie shell. Refrigerate until set. Serve with whipped cream or whipped topping.

The pineapple gives a good chewy texture. This recipe also calls for 1 cup of finely chopped pecans but I have never used them. I suppose that would make you think you were biting on the seeds.
Mary

Big Bees by Paul Collins, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

While Ole Clyde is remembering "stuff" from the old days, I wonder if he remembers some of the sayings of Jehu "Jayhew" Duncan....

Once he told some folks that there was a bee tree he had found that had bees as big as turkey buzzards going in and out of the hole...someone asked him if the bees were that big, how did they get in that little hole, to which Jehu replied "thats their business"

He had a lot more "sayings" about life in FCVA

Ole Paul

Driving Discreetly

Don Conner — 22 Sep 2001 8:24:52 GMT

Bond's store

ClydeMaxey38 — 7 Oct 2001 9:25:02 GMT

Don, my grandfather built the store and the house next door in 1902. I believe that is the same year the Laurel Branch Church was built. My Aunt Lucy and her husband,Walter Harman, ran the store for awhile after grandpa left. This may be when he went to Nebraska.
In the thirties Mr Bond would buy field dressed wild rabbits at 10 cents to a quarter apiece.They had to caught in a box trap, he wouldn't take them if they had been shot The rabbbit fever hit the area and people stopped eating them for awhile
jist ole clyde

Bond's Store (with photo) by Don Conner, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Bond's Store (with photo) - by Don Conner, Floyd County

When I was about ten years old (1948), I rode a bicycle almost every Saturday 3 1/2 miles to S.D. Bond's store in the Laurel Branch community of Floyd County. I would buy groceries, put them in burlap sacks, balance them across my bicyle and head home. It was about a five hour trip for me.

On the road to Bond's store was the Paul Belcher farm. To pass it I rode down a long hill (it was a gravel road), but just past Paul's place the road went uphill just enough that I had to get off and push the bicycle up and around a curve.

Paul had a dog that, when he saw me coming down the hill, would chase me all the way past the house, nipping at my heels. I tried all kinds of things, such as throwing gravel in his face, to break his habit, but nothing worked.

Plastic water pistols were a new thing back then, and my uncle J.W. bought me one, telling me to squirt Paul's dog in the nostrils and it would stop him from chasing me. Well, it took me two trips to Bond's store before my aim was good enough on the moving bicycle to hit him squarely in the nostrils, but I got him good. He hacked and coughed something fierce.......and he never chased me again.

Don Conner
Djconner19@cs.com

Skunk and Cow by Don Conner

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Skunk and Cow by Don Conner

In the early 1950's, my uncle J.W. Hylton, who lived just over the hill from us, got himself a television set, so almost every night I would walk across the hill in the dark and watch TV until all the stations closed down for the night. There was a fence across the top of the hill which
divided our property. We had a couple of cows on our side, and J.W. had a work horse who loved to catch you out in the field and he would run full speed at you, trying to get you to run (so he could chase you), but if you held your ground, "Dick" would come to a screeching halt right in front of your face.

So one night I was walking up the hill on J.W.'s side on a pitch black night, and all of a sudden, I hear Dick running at me (yes, in the dark!). Normally I would hold my ground but I was afraid he could not see me in time in the dark to stop, so I ran like a bat out of .... toward the wire fence.

The fence had a hole in it that I could bend over and step through. Well, I beat Dick to the fence, bent over and as my foot was coming down on the other side, I saw that it was about to come down on a skunk, who was already positioning himself to spray me. Somehow I managed to change my mementum in mid-air and miss the skunk, falling onto the ground on the far side of him in the process. As the skunk was repositioning
himself, I jumped up and started to run, only to fall right over one of our cows who was laying down asleep.

When granddaddy Hylton came back from milking the next morning, he said, "Whew! I don't know how in the world ole Betty got sprayed by a skunk. It like to have made me sick milking her!

I never told him how Betty came to be sprayed (and Mama threw the milk away for 2-3 days). And I started carrying a lantern when I went over to watch T.V.

Don Conner
Djconner19@cs.com

Photo - Mrs. Dan Akers and Triplets from Bill Hobbs, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Photo - Mrs. Dan Akers and Triplets

From: bill hobbs <hobbs@swva.net>

Photo - Lee Whitlow from Bill Hobbs, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Photo - Lee Whitlow

From: bill hobbs <hobbs@swva.net>

Photo - G.M. Hylton and a Pair of Grays from Bill Hobbs, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Photo - G.M. Hylton and a Pair of Grays

From: bill hobbs <hobbs@swva.net>

Photo - Floyd County Poplar from Bill Hobbs, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Photo Floyd County Poplar

From: bill hobbs <hobbs@swva.net>

Beans

jistoleclyde — 22 Sep 2001 12:09:06 GMT

When I was young the corn was plowed and hoed three times before it was "laid by"
At the second plowing or workingh was the time for planting beans, usually Kentucky Wonders in the corn rows. Pumpkin seed were also planted.
It was the job of the person hoeing the corn to plant the bean and pumpkin seed. Now, when I was about 13 I was the person doing the hoeing and daddy gave me a lot of beans to plant. I got tired of planting them and poured a lot of the seed in a hollow chestnut stump at the edge of the field never thinking about them coming up. The next time we worked the corn there was a stump full of beans. I expected daddy to give me a thrashing but he jus said "Ithought you run out of beans mighty quick"

jist ole clyde

Skunks

jistoleclyde — 22 Sep 2001 12:09:06 GMT

"Oscar Webb" by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Although Mr. Webb had not received any formal training as a Veterinarian he was much sought after by people of the county when they had sick animals.

I had a person working for me at the sawmill and one morning he said his cow was sick and he hat to call the local veterinarian who said the cow was dying to call the fox farm. The fox farm was a person near Christiansburg that raised silver foxes and minks and he would take the sick and dead animals off your hands to feed his foxes.

Instead of calling the fox farm the person called Mr Webb and after examining the cow said she had a piece of wire in her stomach and made her swallow a small magnet with the theroy that it would attract the metal and both would pass from the cow.

Must have worked for the cow got better.

jist ole clyde

"Remember?" by Arthur, Floyd County List

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

Are you aged enough to have lived in the '30's?
In the hill country of Appalachian area?
Are you still proud of having had the experience?
Are you fortunate enough to remember?::::::::::
.....the first time that you had 'light' bread;
.....your refrigerator being the cold stream behind the house;
.....stoking the fire at night;
.....never having to take a wash tub bath in the summer months;
.....that a rail road track was between your house house and your out house;
.....where you lived when you had your first out house in the house;
.....the much too hot red hot stove pipe that went through the wall;
.....when, if you had a wooden nickel, you would have felt rich;
.....that there were no locks on the doors of your house;
.....the long johns with the trap door;
.....that people being baptized in the cold river water did not get sick;
.....the hot tar bubbles on the road that you used for chewing gum;
.....the meals consisting only of baloney and brown gravy;
.....having your tooth pulled with only the tools of a string and a door;
.....when a person's word was their bond---handshake not required.

Proud and thankful to have been there........Mercer Co., WV.

Arthur

"A Hunting Story" by Don Conner, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

A hunting story.

As a teenager I went hunting on our place with some relatives who were visiting. About half a mile from home I stepped over a fallen tree and my foot when right into a hornet's nest built in the ground. They went up my britches leg by the dozens! I dropped the gun and ran for the house, pulling off all my clothes in the process. By the time I got to the house, where all the women were, I was down to my shorts. Mama counted 47 stings all over my body. She put baking soda paste on them and gave me two Bayer aspirin for pain. I hurt so bad I thought I would die for two days, swelled up unbelievably, missed three days of school. I never hunted again.

Ironically, the next year, a teenager from another part of the county was stung on the finger by a wasp and it killed him. I have been petrified of getting bee stung ever since.

One other bee incident helped my fear along. I was riding our workhorse back to the barn (no saddle, he had harness on) and a bumble bee stung the horse. He bolted, throwing me off backwards, down a bank, and landing in the river (I can't swim).

Nothing like the good ole days, huh?

(Don Conner)

"Leaving" by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I hate to tell you but I think I am leaving this world for in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse twenty we find "all came from dust and to dust all return" I looked at the collar of my white shirt I pulled off today and I think I am on the way back to dust.

jist ole clyde

"Much of a Man" by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

When I was about 10 or 11 mother would call my Uncle Dexter and get him to bring a 24 lb sack of flour from the mill to his house. I would get off the school bus and carry it home which was about 2 miles. One morning she asked me how much wheat bran I could carry that she was going to get Dexter to
bring it to his house and for me to get off the bus and bring it home.
Well, if any of you know anything about wheat bran it is light in weight so I said I can carry 24 pounds of flower and bran is lighter than four so I should be able to carry 50 of it .
I thought I would never get that bran home.

You could get fertlizer in 100 or 200 lb sacks. The 200 lb was cheaper so when I was about 16 and thought I was "much of a man" I put at daddy to get our wheat fertlizer in 200 lb sacks to save a few dollars He really didn't want to but gave in.
Now I am here to tell you it was all I could do to shoulder a sack of that fertlizer, carry it up hill and put it in the wheat drill. Next year we had 100 lb sacks. We would probably have 40 lb sacks now

jist ole clyde

"Crickets" by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

It seems that all older houses and maybe some modern ones also had or have crickets.

Anyway my Grandfather aways hung his socks up on the chair rungs at night. When I asked him why he said "to keep the crickets from eating them."

My daddy said that they would come out from around the fireplace which was made mostly of field stone and sit on the hearth for warmth. They got them to eating bread crumbs and someone came up with the idea of soaking some bread in whisky. He said that after the ate some of this doctored bread he never heard such "singing". He said they would stick their legs away up in the air and sing(probably sounded about like me trying to sing)
They also got a rooster drunk in the same manner. He was wobbling and trying to crow at the same time. Seems he couldn't crow very well.
I wonder where they got the whisky.

jist ole clyde

"Ole Ber Rabbit" by Clyde Maxey, Floyd County

Barb S. — 5 Oct 2006 12:31:54 GMT

I once bought a pair of rabbit beagle pups and daddy and I set a box trap to cach a rabbit to use in training them. We were working near the trap and decided to see if we had anything and sure enough we had caught a rabbit. Daddy said he would get it out of the trap and got down in front of the trap. When he reached for "ole Ber Rabbit" he made a dash through daddy's arms and was gone. Daddy looked at me and said " I wanted to get him out for I was afraid you would let it get away"
jist ole clyde