To Bed Without Supper!

The white clapboard church that stood on the high ground between Flesher Run and Clover Fork, the original St. Michael Roman Catholic church building, holds many memories. See John Carney's memories in the Dec '06 entry, The 13 Minute Mass. Bonnie (Brown) Neal's memory, which follows, is not one you'd expect.

Bonnie Brown lived on Flesher Run and her playmates, the McCauley girls, lived on Clover Fork1. On the high ground between them stood the clapboard-covered St. Michael Church. A road ran up from Flesher Run to the unused church and a footpath ran from Clover Fork to the church. The very old, unused church was a part of her childhood landscape.


"While my Mother was visiting a neighbor, my sister and I walked across the hill [up the road to the church and down the path from the church] to play with two of the McCauley girls, Rosalie and Peggy. Of course we didn't realize how late it was getting and it was getting dark when we were going home and my parents met us coming back across the hill.

"It is one of those things you remember, especially when you get sent to bed without any supper after all that playing and walking across the hill. My Mother still yet today denies putting us to bed without supper. That was the worst punishment for us. As well as I can remember I think I was about eight and my sister about five years old."

Above to the left is a photo of Bonnie and others on the steps of the old church, about 10 years after this story took place. To the right is a photo Bonnie found on the internet. It is the best picture we have of the log building when it was clapboard covered. This beloved building punctuated the landscape that is now part of the Burnsville Lake Recreation area. The church was moved. See its story at the Sep 21 '06 entry St. Michael's Several Buildings


1. Flesher Run drains into the Little Kanawha River and Clover Fork drains into Oil Creek. St Michael, the log church that was built on Griffins' farm, is on the high ground between the two watersheds. The easiest route over the high ground is always a place for coming together.