Monaville, WV

Monaville was originally called Vanceville. “The name was believed to have been changed to Monaville in honor of Mona Wilkinson, the daughter of a prominent coal mining official. The Logan Mining Company operated a coal mine here and the name Mona Mine appears on a 1918 photo of the coal tipple.”  — Wikipedia

Monaville, WV courtesy of G. B. Berry.

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Monaville, WV Photo Gallery


By Bob Piros

Free, just want to be free, so the Hungarians came to America
in the early 1900’s. The 1930 Census on this page shows the
Hungarian families who settled in Monaville. The men worked
in the area coal mines.

The info in this list was found at familysearch.org & findagrave.com.

Steve Borcsics born in 1886 & Lydia Pocsik born in 1896 were
married May 31,1924 in Huntington,WV. They had 3 children.
No records found for them after 1930.

Joe Bodnar ( 1883-1952) is buried in City View Cemetery in Logan.
He & his wife Susie were married Oct.30,1916 in Cadiz Ohio.
They had 3 children. No records found for rest of family.

John Bodo Jr.( 1902-1981) & his wife Julie ( 1907- 1985) are
buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery. They had 4 children.

Julius Nagy ( 1884 – 1963). is buried in Montgomery Memorial
Park in London, WV. His wife Amalia born in 1889 & son
Alex born in 1924 no records found for them.

Joseph Puskas ( 1888- 1978) & his wife Susan ( 1892- 1960)
are buried in Highland Park Cleveland Ohio.
They were married March 16,1915 in New Brunswick,N.J.
They had 2 children.

Pete Sabo ( 1882- 1952) & Julie 1900- 1990). are both buried in
Forest Lawn Cemetery. They had 4 children.

Dan Sabo ( 1873- 1925) is buried in Whitman Cemetery.

Joe Solar or Solo ( 1890 – 1965).He is buried in Park Lawn
in Hampton,VA. His wife Vera born in 1891 unknown death.
They had 8 children. Son Steve ( 1924- 1993) buried in
Forest Lawn Cemetery was in WW II.

Alex Vespremi ( 1875- 1951) & Ester ( 1888- 1971) are buried
in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit Michigan. They had
12 children. Four of the children are buried in Whitman Cemetery.

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33 thoughts on “Monaville, WV”

  1. John Sepessy, this is the website with the photos.
    Also write ups about Joe & Gabor Loslo.

    Hope that you can add more photos &
    history about the Sepessy & Loslo families.

  2. On this Monaville site there is a link
    coalcampusa.com.

    There are a few 1938 photos of the
    Vespremi family. Many of them worked
    in the local coal mines.

    In the early 1940s the family moved to
    Wayne County Michigan. It is possible
    that some of them went to work to help
    build the Willow Run Expressway and the
    N&W Railway System during WWII.

    Some probably got jobs at the Detroit Auto Plants.

    The Find A Grave site shows many of the family
    members buried in Woodmere Cemetery in
    Wayne County Michigan.

    I any of you have Facebook please try and make
    contact with Vespremi family members and
    tell them about the 1938 photos. Invite them
    to this Logan site to see if they can help with
    the photo IDs. Maybe they have Logan photos
    to share with this site.

    These are the towns in Michigan where some of
    the Vespremi family members still live.

    Inster, Crossville,Detroit,Lincoln Park, Allen Park,
    Flat Rock, Taylor Township, Southgate and
    Pontiac Oakland.

    Thanks for your help.

  3. Joe Loslo 1911 to 1989 was born in PA and
    he died in Illinois.

    He married Helen Sepessy 1914 to 1994 in
    1932 in Logan,WV. She died in Illinois.

    Joe was a coal miner.

    After he and Helen got married they stayed
    with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Anna Tarkany
    in Cherry Tree for six months to save
    their money to buy a house in Monaville.

  4. Dennie Vespremi, 1909 to 1965 was born in VA.
    and he died in Wayne County Michigan.

    He was a coal miner.

    Dennie and his family in the early 1940s moved
    to Wayne County to work with road construction
    companies who were building highways to
    move equipment for the WWII war effort.

  5. Mike Mesco or Mesko, 1917 to 1958 was born in
    NJ. and he died in Logan WV.

    He was a coal miner, He also worked as a
    Poultry truck driver for a chicken hatchery.

    Mike was married to Loranine Stevens.

    Mike served in WWII as a Tec.5 with the
    128 WV Armored BN.

    He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

  6. Paul Tarkany ( My Uncle ) was born in 1905 in Pocahontas,VA.
    He died in 1962 in Kanawha County WV.

    He lost his hearing from playing basketball with the
    Monaville team.

    He went to an Electrial School in Indiana where he learned
    skills that helped him to go into the cable business in
    Cherry Tree, WV.

    In 1940 he was a member of # 11 Island Coal Mine First Aid Team.

  7. Lawrence Cale Vance 1907 to 1997 born in WV
    and he died in Michigan.

    He was a coal miner and a farm truck driver in Logan.

    He married Mary Gold Chittum and they raised eight children.
    Mary 1912 to 1989 was born in VA.

    In 1954 Lawrence and Mary moved to Genesse Michigan
    where he worked for General Motors.

    They are both buried in Flint Memorial Park Mount Morris
    Genesse County Michigan.

    There are Memorials for both of them with photos.

  8. Robert Lee Frye or Fry, 1908 to 1974. He was born
    in Hamlin, Lincoln County WV. and he died in
    Brevard County Florida.

    He was a coal miner in Logan County.

    He married Garnet Neese in 1932 in Logan County.
    Garnet and her daughter Barbara both died
    in 1933 in Logan.

  9. Gabor Loslo, 1913 to 1986 born in WV & died in CA.

    Gabor married Mary Bell in 1935 in Logan County WV.
    She was born in 1914 in WV & died in 1999 in NY.

    In 1930 Gabor worked as a tipple man in the coal mine.
    In 1940 Gabor and Mary moved to New York where
    he worked as a food packer and Mary was a sales clerk.

    On August 18 1943 Gabor enlisted in the US Army
    for two years and served in WWII, He received his
    training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi.

    He is buried in Los Angeles CA National Cemetery.
    No other records found about him.

  10. Regarding the 1924 Monaville Grade School basketball photo
    found on this page, the players info was found at
    familysearch.org and findagrave.com.

    Going from L to R.

    Drury Alba Steele, 1908 to 1972, he was born and died
    in Wilkinson,WV. He was a coal miner all of his life.

    He married Rose Nell Keathly July 6,1927 in Wyoming County,WV.
    She was born in KY in 1909 and died in 1972 in Logan County.

    They had a daughter Doris born in 1934, no records about her.
    They adopted her when she was six years old.

    Drury and Rose are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

  11. Thanks to Brandon Kirk for his Facebook Logan Banner clipping
    of the Holden and Monaville basketball game on January 23,1925.
    The game was played in Holden and the score was Holden Nighthawks 53
    and the Monaville Triangles 16.

    Hopefully Brandon can find more of these games players and photos
    that played for the Switzer, Omar, Peach Creek and Stirrat Y.M.C.A.
    which means Young Men’s Christian Association.

    The following link shows the beginning of the Y.M.C.A.

    https://www.ymca.net/history/1870-1890s.html

    One of the team names was Monaville Panthers.
    Another was RA ( Rail America ).

    There are two photos in the photo groups above.

  12. My dad grew up in Monaville. Hampton, Elswick, Shiller. I’m looking for his paternal father, Floyd Elswick. We know nothing about him other than he passed. I would love to know if anyone knew or had any information.

    1. Robert Harvey

      I’ve noticed that many people named Elswick are from Buchanan, or neighboring counties, Virginia.

    2. Anna, there are a few Elswick names
      at familysearch.org.

      One shows Floyd b.May 17,1910
      in Omar & d.Oct.1974 in Omar.
      He is buried in Curry Cemetery.
      Father was Lon & Mother Sallie.

  13. For Mike Taylor, do you have any
    history of Joe & Dan Augustine?
    They are in the 5th row,2nd photo.
    They had a few delivery trucks.

    Any info about anyone in the 1930s
    who delivered items to the local
    coal mining communities.

    Was moonshine a big business from
    the 1920s to the 1940s in Monaville?

  14. Maxine Gore Dotson

    I would love to see a picture of the old Monaville grade school! Best times ever! Maxine Gore Dotson

  15. Robert L. Harvey

    Just this morning I happened to think of my classmates in Logan Junior High School, George Nelson Hockett and his good friend John Kovach. I remembered only that they were from somewhere on Main Island Creek. Now, though, from having seen this Web site, I know it was Monaville. I went on to graduate from Logan High School in 1945.
    Robert Harvey
    Kingsport, Tenn.

    1. Robert, you were 16, one smart fella.
      Your mother Helen was a school teacher.
      Your friend John Kovach & his father Gus
      were coal miners. Gus was born in Hungary.
      According to the 1930 census there were
      many Hungarian coal miners living in
      Monaville.

  16. My grandfather is Richard Hockett. He grew up here. I saw pictures of his brother Nelson, sister Pauline, and father George. If anyone finds pictures of my grandfather, I would love to see them. My email is hockettjv@vcu.edu

  17. My dads name was Willie Runyon. His grandfather was Alexander Runyon. I cannot find much information or pictures of him when he was young. He was crippled with polio. If anyone has any pictures of the Runyon family or m dad to share I would appreciate it.

    1. Carol, there is a photo of a
      Donnie Runyon on this website.
      His parents were George & Elizabeth
      Runyon(Wooten).
      Familysearch.org shows a will for a
      Alexander Runyon.
      Also marriage in 1878 in Logan to
      June Runyon.

  18. My Step fathers family was from there. They lived in the last house in the hollow. The name is Abbott. The house is empty and falling down now. Some of the Abbott family still live close to the old house. Sometimes over 50 people in the family would come for great breakfast and dinner. As a child in the 60s I loved catching lizards and crawdads in the little creek that ran by the house.

    1. Valerie Brewer

      Steve, I walked up to the end of the hollow many times. It is some of my fondest childhood memories. I went to church with Mrs. Abbott at Monahill FWB. I can still hear her sing ……I go the garden alone…..
      Great memories!

  19. Regarding the train photo. In 1923 my Mom
    Helen Piros(Tarkany) while going to Monaville
    Grade School was on a team of girls who went
    to Field Meets.They rode the train to different areas
    of Logan County to play against other schools.The
    school colors were green & white.Those on the team
    were: Estie Vespremi, Nina Somogyi, Tennesse McCalvin,
    Irene Loslo & Frances Steele. She was a LHS grad in 1932.
    This train was also used by coal miners to go to jobs in
    Logan County.
    A Dr. Steele the coal company Dr. used the train to go into
    the coal camps to treat people.

  20. I found our HS principal Rudi Marushi in there. He was 18 at the time. I also found Helen Triolo. I wonder if she was the English teacher at Logan Central in the early 70’s

    1. Doug,if you want to see more about
      Rudi Marushi,you might want to go to
      the 1960 Logan East Jr.High School site.
      More of his photos there.

  21. Terri Pippin-Grannis

    Hello,
    I own the original photograph of your image #58 and would simply like to have that acknowledged in your “description” that goes with the photo. The three men pictured in the photo are L to R, John Kovach, Nelson Hockett, and Jim Brooks (Jim is wearing the light colored suit and tie). Jim Brooks was my uncle. He passed away in January of 1977.
    Thank you, Terri Pippin-Grannis

    1. My name is Richard Hockett and Nelson Hockett is my uncle in the photo. His brother Richard “Tate” Hockett is my father. Both have since passed away.

  22. Many thanks to G.B. Berry for sharing his wonderful
    photos of Monaville. The 1st photo of lower Monaville
    on the side facing the tracks & Monahill is the store that
    many people shopped at. The people living in the house
    ran the store.

    1. Regarding the post card sent to
      Mrs.Mary Jenkins,Monaville,WV.
      The 1930 shows her as Manager of
      a boarding house in Monaville Village.
      She was born in England. Further research
      shows that she was born as Emily Mary Ann Jenkins,
      born Dec.4,1871 in Fawkhan,Kent England,her father
      was James Jenkins & mother Harriet.
      She died April 26,1933 & is buried in
      Whitman Cemetery.

  23. In the picture where everyone was watching a baptism,
    looking toward the YMCA (which later became the Church).

    that would be the edge of our yard, later!
    I loved seeing these pictures,

    My Mom said that she could really relate to them, also.

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