Picture 50 Years on Clover Fork

These two pictures were taken about 50 years apart. At the top is Gideon and Sarah (Bennett) Skinner and their 5 oldest children about 1900. Their home was up Clover Fork; perhaps the photo was taken there. Gid Skinner was the son of Jackson Skinner and Patience (Duvall) of Clover Fork. Sarah's folks were George W. and Anne (Barb) Bennett. Both of their fathers had fought for the Confederacy.

Sarah died in 1938 of anemia and Gideon remarried Minnie (unk). Minnie left him a widower for a second time.

The 8 mm home movie below (click on the image) was filmed in downtown Orlando, WV in the 1950s by Carl Witzgall, husband of one of Gid & Sarah's grandkids. In his 80s at the time, Gid Skinner still hitched the mule to his old wagon and drove into Orlando to pick up his mail and supplies from WD Brown & Son. Carl Witzgall, my father, knew Gid Skinner was the end of a way of life, and took this film to document it.

(See postings May 30, '06 The Bennetts of Clover Fork about Sarah's father, Feb 15, '06 "Dick Skinner's Restaurant: A Family Affair" and Feb. 27 '06 "Jackson McWhorter Skinner, Confederate Soldier" about Gid's family.)