We, at the Historical Society, have a huge undertaking in organizing, logging, identifying and digitizing our wonderful collection from Gilmer County’s past. The photos are rich with details of how people lived, dressed and progressed through the years. I love the articles, but the old photos are my favorite.
Happy Mother’s Day to all plus a special Howdee-Do to the women of the Zinn family!
The man giving the reward is on the right….County Ag agent M.R. McClung; Then left to right Grandpa Scott Zinn his mother Vada Zinn, Scott’s wife, Dale Zinn (standing), Mary Alice Zinn Lockard (Scott’s sister)
Vada Zinn of Cox’s Mills, WV at the age of 57, was the first to win this double victory in the program’s (at that time) five-year history. This article was clipped from the local newspaper, The Glenville Democrat, published in 1944. Our Historical Society members found it in the many articles filed away for prosperity. The farm is still in operation by the Zinn family and the house looks very much the same today.
Vada Zinn was obviously an energetic wife and mother. It appears she was also a pioneer-woman-farmer of her day. I’ve noticed most articles about this contest would use the full names of the men, but the woman only addressed as the Mrs. without the use of their names at all. Looks like Vada blew that out of the water! Read the article and see if you can find her husband’s name. Interesting indeed.
Update:
Vada Fisher Zinn’s (B. Aug 31, 1887) husband, Manley Bush Zinn (B. Oct 8, 1879), died of pneumonia at the age of 44, on Feb. 15, 1923. They had been married on Oct 20, 1907 marking their union at a short 16 years. Their son Scott and daughter Mary Alice were just children. Vada was 36 years old at the time of his passing. Vada was 90 years old upon her death on May 13, 1977.
We’d appreciate any and all help in our project of digitizing and posting more photos and stories of this nature. Our equipment may be outdated and our work force is few, but we’ve been able to update as funds allow. I’m happy to say, with the help from people like you, we’re beginning to get the ball rolling. Sitting here looking over the hills of West Virginia, rolling the ball shouldn’t be a problem.
Mr and Mrs Paul F Baker of Gilmer County West Virginia. They won the Regional Award.
A salute to the Better Living Contest Winners in the Upper Monongahela Valley Region
It reads:
Congratulations to the seven counties which finished this year’s Farming For Better Living program with 100 percent completions. They are Lewis, Doddridge, Braxton, Barbour, Pendleton, Randolph and Pocahontas. It took a lot of hard work by the councils, Extension Service representatives, the newspaper editors and to everyone who had a part in the program. They are to be commended.
In recognition of their outstanding work, each county will receive $25 cash awards which go into their respective county 4-H club funds.
UPDATE:
Update on information:
Edna Garrett is her name.
Edna Garrett , Upper Horn Creek near Cox’s Mills, both have passed away.
B. July 16, 1911 in Freemansburg, West Virginia, Lewis County
Parents names: Charles Melvin Garrett SR
Delphia M Taylor
Married: Paul Franklin Baker SR about 1929
Moved to Troy in 1940, WV
D. March 18, 1995, 83 yrs.
Husband: Paul Franklin Baker SR
B. April 18, 1908, Pullman WV, Richie County, WV
D. Feb. 12, 1986, Auburn, age 77 yrs. Richie County, WV
Parents: Goolden W Baker
Emma Cole
Both buried Weston Masonic Cemetery, Lewis County, WV
64 years ago, the Glenville Democrat published an article recognizing the Furr family of Dawson Creek Farm, Glenville, WV as participants in the FFBL. Generations later, they are is still farming.
The Farming For Better Living project was developed to give recognition to West Virginia farmers who stood out in the crowd.
Little Danny Furr, ( October 31, 1950 – November 14, 2017) carried on the tradition when his father could no longer run the farm. Today, Scott Furr and Step-Mother Pamela Campbell Furr continue to raise beef and corn, supplying home raised products for the community.
Below is a description of what the Farming For Better Living (FFBL) project was all about. I’ll share more stories of Gilmer County farm families who won in the competitions, in future posts.
(From the February 7, 1967 Congressional Record- Senate, pg. 2813 )
In July 1937, Mr. Copeman joined the Monongahela Power Company in the Rural Building. Mr. Copeman may be identified as “Mr. Farming for Better Living,” a program that began in 1940 and continued for 30 years. Although he was the director of the program, he was usually out of sight, always in the background, but never out of control. As a director of Framing for Better Living Program, he worked directly with agricultural agencies and with farm families in promoting better farming practices and better living on the farm.
[From the Charleston (W. Va.) Sunday Gazette-Mail, Feb. 5, 1967]
FARMING FOR BETTER LIVING
Farm families in 24 counties of West Virginia feel the influence of West Virginia University in a unique program designed to dramatize good farming practices. The program is “Farming For Better Living” and it’s an example of how industry and the University work together toward a common goal. Each spring, some 2,000 farm families enrolled in Farming For Better Living receive a booklet of recommendations for good farming practices. Each fall these same farm families report on their own farm practices. These reports are graded and a county Farming For Better Living Council makes an award to the top farm family in the county.
The program had its beginning in the late 1930’s. These were the years when the Cooperative Extension Service of West Virginia University was confronted with telling the story of many new agricultural practices that have since greatly increased the production of American agriculture. The liming and fertilization of pastures, artificial breeding (Artificial Insemination, as we know it today) of dairy cattle to high production bulls, crop rotation, contour farming, soil conservation plans, and a myriad of other new and exciting farm ideas needed to be taken to the grass roots levels of farming. At the same time Monongahela Power Co. had been pioneering in the field of area development under A. C. Spurr, who was then president of the electric utility. Spurr’s philosophy was that in order for the utility to prosper, its customers must first be prosperous. Extension and power company officials met together and the result was the Farming For Better Living Program. A program that dramatized the farm recommendations on the grass roots level.
Each year since 1940, cooperative extension officials have updated the FFBL recommendation booklet. Each year the Farming For Better Living awards are made to 24 West Virginia county FFBL Champions, four Regional Champions, and to an overall Sweepstakes Champion. Each county cooperative extension agent works with local and civic and business leaders to enroll farm families, to interpret the farm recommendations, and to grade the farm reports. On the staff of the Monongahela Power Co. is an agricultural counselor at the general offices in Fairmont, WV plus four field agriculture representatives who spark-plug the FFBL program. Local businessmen in each county are represented on the county FFBL Councils and run the program on the local level.
Another program, the outgrowth of this university-utility cooperation, is now called the Community Action Program. The same university-utility effort is expended here to show the small rural community the road to self-improvement. A. C. Spurr served as President of Monongahela Power Co. from 1935 to 1955. He was also a member of the West Virginia Board of Governors from 1946 until his retirement.
James L. Copeman (1910-2006) devoted 42 years of service to the agricultural industry of West Virginia by working to improve farm and home living conditions and making people happy. Born and raised on a Preston County livestock farm, he devoted his professional career to helping West Virginia rural people. A 1933 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Agriculture, he became a WVU field agent in farm economics in 1934. Mr. Copeman was appointed Assistant County Agent in Ritchie County in 1935 and in December 1935 became County Agent in Taylor County.
When Sheep and wool were a thriving business in Gilmer County. Looks like the 70’s? Who were the men in the photos? Anyone recognize them? Does anyone have more pictures of sheep sales in Gilmer County?
to spoil a photograph of a person or thing by appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken, typically for a prank or practical joke……….
L. Dorsey Scott ; Guy Scott’s son…….R.Ted Dennison holding horse; Jockey from Wheeling, WV……Background; Dr. L. Matheney (dk. Jacket and light hat) On the back written Hays City Fairgrounds; Gilmer County, Glenville, West Virginia. Year unknown.
Good Friday is here. A Christian holiday commemorating the death of Jesus. Though not an official holiday in all states, it is connected to Easter and the tradition of mailing out holiday wishes and gifts.
Courier sent Post Cards have faded in resent years. We know the Internet has taken up the bigger part of the burden by modernizing the way we send correspondence to each other. Have you ever notice those electronic files can closely resemble the original Post Cards of our past? In fact, the Internet has made it easy to locate pictures of an antique post card and share it with others.
I personally have a love of old artwork and the methods used in printing them. To hold an old piece in my hands creates a thrill for my sense of touch. The Internet can only give you part of the story of history.
Actual artifacts are still highly important and valued. It’s up to all of us to assist our local Historical Societies in the collection and care of the many different types and forms our past may present its self in.
We are only in the office on Wednsdays between 11 and 3. We will return your call.
Gathering information about our past is time consuming but never tedious or boring.
You may join us by donating some of your time in our search and preservation of Gilmer County West Virginia history. Coming straight from the people who experienced it. Don’t trust someone else to tell your story.
Let us help you save it like the ‘Songcatchers’ of the past, who recorded the beautiful music of the Appalachian people.
The number on the engine is 1648. The men are unknown.
On one of the box cars has a sign ‘Cotton Belt Route’ . Also an advertisement for Royster Fertilizer, FSR. And one that appears to be for Byers Co. which made wrought iron for building locomotives and sky scrapers. The letters ‘STLSW 21126’ are printed on the sliding door and the box car.
The back reads:
Gene, You might have been in it.
Sam 7/12/07
Kitty’s Cut may be located in Shinnston, WV. There is a bridge named Kitty’s Cut Bridge. Harrison County. If you know anything about the area where this train wreck was located or anything about the wreck, we’d love more information!! [email protected]
There is a lovely poem of how these pieces of silky fluff got their name. The Polish legend goes like this………….
A Polish legend tells the tale of tiny kittens, oh so frail.
Along the river’s edge they chased. With butterflies they played and raced.
They came too close to the river’s side and thus, fell in. Their mother cried.
What could she do but weep and moan? Her babies’ fate were yet unknown.
The willows, by the river, knew just what it was that they must do.
They swept their graceful branches down into the waters, all around.
To reach the kittens was their goal; a rescue mission, heart and soul.
The kittens grasped the branches tight. The willows saved them from their plight.
Each springtime since, the story goes, willow branches now wear clothes.
Tiny fur like buds are sprung where little kittens once had clung.
And that’s the legend, so they claim, how Pussy Willows got their name!
(Author Unknown)
Victorian Easter Cards 1900-1914
The Pussy Willow is neither fragrant nor showy, but if you look close you’ll see the silky shine of fur that is quite tempting to touch. One of the first blooms of late winter or early spring, it has great value to the insects and Hummingbirds who show themselves before the the rest of the summer activity begins. If you’d like more information about the importance of its roll the native Pussy Willow plays in our eco system, click on the link bellow. It’s packed full of great information.
One of the most prominent Easter symbols for the people of Poland, the Pussy Willow represents the emergence of life from something which appears to be dry and lifeless, giving hope after a long period of dormancy. Christians used Palms as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, but on Palm Sunday you will also see Pussy Willow branches as a Polish tradition.
The Monday after Easter, there is a Polish-American celebration called Dyngus Day! Not unlike the Irish holiday of St Patrick’s Day, this is when the Pussy Willow is made busy marking the end of 40 days of Lent, a lead to excitement and joy for the coming of Easter.
What is Dyngus Day?
Pre-Christianity, the ancient spring rite of cleansing, purification, and fertility were carried out by switching and then sprinkling water over a person. Later years, farm boys in Poland would swat the girls they were interested in on the backs of their legs with Pussy Willow branches and squirt water over them, sometimes even drenching them. Getting the attention of the girl they hoped to court may have turned out more painful for the lucky lad than it was for the other. For Tuesday, the next day, was the day of reckoning when that young miss threw dishes and crockery back at him.
Pussy Willow was also used medicinally. It eased headaches, toothaches, and rheumatic diseases. There were many other uses over the years, but now we seem to just enjoy the calming affect they have when we look at or touch them.
The 2019 Gilmer County WV census shows a population of 100 people of Polish decent in residence. Though I’ve never known about Dyngus Day before my research on Pussy Willows I’d enjoy experiencing the celebration, as long as everyone knew I was already married and not eligible for an admirer trying to vie for my attention. I believe a bouquet of little fuzzy willows would be more to my liking than a switch.
The Gilmer County WV Historical Society would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and fun Dyngus Day!
Photographing the Old Hays City Fairgrounds In 1947Break down at the Hays City Fairgrounds Race in 1947
Identifying people from old photos has proven to be quite a challenge. How amazing when you come across pictures that are sharp and clear….now, if I could find an affordable way to enlarge these photos without losing the sharpness. Any suggestions? You may use the contact block below.
The old Hays City Fairgrounds is located in Glenville, West Virginia, outside the Foodland Plaza along Rt 5. Today the land is owned by the Woodford family. Some of the original buildings still stand. But the race track is only a memory and kept alive through old photos and stories told.
If you happen to have some of these old photos in your possession or know of others who do, we would love to make copies of them to add to our collection for preservation of Gilmer Counties stomping grounds from the past.
One of our projects for 2022 has been to filter through photos in our care and record their stories. People, places, animals, tools, beautiful scenery or not-so beautiful scenery. Odd, funny, sad, and exciting. It all captures the interest of people around the world. If you’re not too shy, we’d love to record the stories you remember or were told. By recording pieces of our history on the internet it becomes possible for your relatives and friends, who have moved beyond Gilmer County, to enjoy a piece of home when they feel the draw of the mountains and family.
We ask for help in sharing the costs of such an endeavor. It’s is surprising the things that add up when maintaining the facility for the public and members. In the last two years, our active members have dwindled, as most public attendance of gatherings has. It makes it especially difficult to keep the historical society in the minds of our Gilmer County residents. Every thoughtful donation, no matter the size, can help keep our story forever recorded.
Today, we can see the importance of recording the past accurately. Thank you in advance for investing in our success. Whether you donate money, time, knowledge, or continued following of our social postings, we’ll provide you enjoyment with the wonderful things we dig out and dust off. Come see us if you can. We’re open every Wednesday (weather allowing) between the hours of 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. We are open for special occasions and appointments are encouraged. If you are planning a trip to the area, let us know when we can meet you at the historical society!
Contact Us
To leave a message, fill in the blocks bellow. We usually get back to you within 48 hrs. Information about old photos is always welcome. Thank you for your support.
Blizard’s Flea Market, of Glenville, West Virginia donates all proceeds from their first Art Class in support of Gilmer County WV Historical Society.
Today was a busy day for the Historical Society. A newly opened Glenville business has been in collaboration with the Historical Society in offering classes to the people of Gilmer and surrounding counties.
Today was the first Art Class hosted by Blizard’s Flea Market, located 1 mile outside of Glenville on Rt 33/119 in the old Waco building. They are open every Friday and Saturday 7:00-7:00. With an overflowing turn out for a class on how to paint with alcohol inks, the Blizard’s donated the total amount of proceeds for the class and waved the booth space fees. We would like to thank them for their generosity and hard work in hosting this painting class with more planned in the future. Hat’s off to Kandice and Roger for their generous hearts and great business sense. We wish them all the luck and success in their future endeavors.
Warm sunshine, flowers opening, frosty dawns, a touch of snow. They’re all part of Spring.
Present day life for our Historical Society has been filled with ups and downs, trying new things, and applying for grants. I’ve found myself saying, “Cross your fingers!” And it appears to have caught on with other members working to get ready for one event or the other. I’ve been wondering, where did this saying come from? And how long have people been saying it? Off to the computer I go to see what the historians say about this uplifting phrase.
Wow, I can see I’m not the only one curious about this ‘cross your fingers’ thing. As I filter through the collection of information, looking for my answers, I find myself enjoying the clever ability humans have of sharing hope and positivity with others around them. We live with a constant barrage of sad, scary, or angry news, of our local communities and of others all around the world. I think I just had an epiphany! Humans really are clever and full of hope.
The definition of epiphany when capitalized, is the celebration of the baptism of Christ. And what a coincidence that the phrase, ‘cross your fingers’ has a strong connection to very early Christianity. Before Christianity it was used by Pagans as a symbol of good luck. When greeting, each would cross the index finger of the other to release the positive spirits from the intersection of the cross.
In the times of Christian persecution, it was a way to greet another of the Christian faith without exposure.
By the 1900 crossing of the fingers had become more of a ‘wish me luck’ phrase or by hiding your crossed fingers behind your back, a way to avoid negative fall out from telling a white lie.
With your Gilmer County WV Historical Society volunteers venturing out in areas unfamiliar to most of us, we’d like to say, ‘ Fingers Crossed’.
If you are curious and would like to get involved in some of our new projects, maybe share your expertise in the areas of History, Genealogy, Internet marketing, Web Sites, Museum artifacts, grant writing and tea parties, please contact us. We love to learn and grow so we may keep our history strong.
Contributing through donations is another vital way in keeping us afloat as a Non-Profit Org. To make a monetary monthly, yearly or onetime donation, just klick on any of our Donation buttons and follow the prompts to PayPal or credit card. Thank you for helping us all keep history accurate.
Learn to blow out eggs the safe way and to color them using Alcohol Inks.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Gilmer County WV Historical Society Annex Building
302 East Main St.
Glenville, WV 26351
Call to sign up: 304-462-8390
Easter is getting closer and decorating a few eggs to add to a center piece or an egg hunt would be a fun way to make your family gathering colorful and a bit unique.
You’re all invited to join us for an Easter Egg Decorating Class, taught by Sandy Hershey, at the Historical Society’s Annex building located on Main St., Glenville, WV . The class will run approximately two hours Saturday, March 26th, from 1-3:00pm.
Inks and alcohol brands may vary.
We will provide two natural, un-dyed, blown out eggs, Alcohol Inks, 99% Rubbing Alcohol and paint brushes for each student. You may want to bring a few 12″ lengths of your favorite colored 3/8″ ribbons for embellishments and two whole eggs to try your hand at blowing them out after the demonstration, if time allows. Don’t ware anything you wouldn’t want ink or egg yolk stained. This may get messy!
A small donation of $5 from each student would be greatly appreciated to help cover the cost of water and electricity for this Historical Society event.
Please call Sandy at 304-462-8390 to sign up so we may prepare the supplies needed. The deadline for reserving a spot will be Wednesday, March 23rd. The class will be limited to 8 students, so please sign up quickly to guarantee a place at our tables to relax and create. Looking forward to seeing you there.
