Getting To Know Our Ancestors

By Joanna Newman “It is in the family that we learn to share- meals, space, laughter, tears” Beth Mende Conny Thompson Family Sketches Zoya Fansler’s Interview with her Grandmother, Lillian “Judy” Thompson Hall b. July 7, 1914 An observation before we begin… One of the wonderful things about family stories, is that by reading several […]

Getting To Know Our Ancestors Read More »

A Trip Back in Time

When I learned that Dr. Israel Maurice Kruger had passed away on March 30, 2000, it sent me rushing back in time. Anytime I think of the old Logan General Hospital he comes to mind. After all, he was our family doctor, and he delivered my first child. He delivered over five-thousand babies during his years in Logan County.

A Trip Back in Time Read More »

Another Day Older. . . And Deeper in Debt

You load sixteen tons . . . what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the company store – by: Merle Travis “There was an old saying around the coal mines in the Depression days. Somebody’d say,

Another Day Older. . . And Deeper in Debt Read More »

Dehue Past and Present

GEORGE & FLORENCE BROWNING BACUS-EARLY Several proud residents who once lived at Dehue placed this sign twice at the entrance to Dehue only to have it stolen. Dehue had its beginning about 1916, and was named after D.E. Hewitt who operated a large bandmill in the vicinity. In 1923, the mine became part of Youngstown

Dehue Past and Present Read More »

The End of an Era

The gradual decline of Dehue caught many of us unaware, especially those of us who had moved away. Dehue began to fade away by the early 1970′s, and now the end of the era we once knew is forever gone.

The End of an Era Read More »

Family Tradition

It is a family tradition to love our children from the cradle to the grave. FAMILY WEDDINGS Donald and Dolores Riggs Davis – May 19, 1964 Donald and I were married in Pearisburg, Virginia at the First Methodist Church by Rev. James E. Hankins. Donald was on a ten-day leave from the Army, and we

Family Tradition Read More »

Our Family Album and Stories

RIDING THE BLIND The Great Depression still gripped the nation on November ninth, 1936 when I was born in the mining town of Dehue, seven miles from the city of Logan, West Virginia. I slipped into the world silently, and my mother thought something was wrong with me. Dr. Fred Brammer, the company doctor who

Our Family Album and Stories Read More »

The Reverends and the Revenuers

LOGAN COUNTY REVENUERS – STILL DESTRUCTION The man on the left is wearing “snake boots.” The high-top boots were protection from poisonous bites of rattle snakes and copperheads as they beat the brush down on their way up the mountainside Dogs came in handy when searching for the moonshiners and their stills. Lock . .

The Reverends and the Revenuers Read More »

Number Please?

The word telephone is derived from the Greek words “tele” meaning “far off” and “phonos” meaning “sound.” Alexander Graham Bell lacked the funds to develop his invention of the telephone. So, he tried to sell all rights to his telephone patent to the Western Union Telegraph Company for $100,000 in 1876. They turned him down

Number Please? Read More »

Final Thoughts

Dying under those grim circumstances, some have written tender, assuring words to their mothers, vowing to see them again in Heaven. Some have scribbled terse notes declaring how and where they should be buried. Others have penned short but intense love letters to their wives.

Final Thoughts Read More »