Gaver Hamilton Allman: Telegrapher and Freight Agent

by David Parmer

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Gaver Allman, master telegrapher, was a resident of Orlando for over fifty years, a period spanning the heyday and the decline of Orlando as an important railroad town in central West Virginia. A native of near French Creek in Upshur County, Gaver was born in 1883.

According to his grandson, John Allman, Gaver was fourteen years old when he was befriended by a telegrapher at Frenchton and was taught the art of telegraphy. A fast learner, Gaver soon became adept at telegraphy and applied for a job as a telegrapher with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Although railroad rules required that employees be at least sixteen years old to be employed by the railroad, Gaver added a couple of years to his age and was hired as an “extra.” Youthful Gaver soon had nearly steady employment with the B & O line.
Gaver Goes to Cowen
Around 1902, an opening for a telegrapher came up for the Cowen station. Looking for full-time status as a railroad telegrapher, Gaver successfully bid for the job and took up residence in the Webster County town. In addition to a full-time position with the B & O Railroad, Gaver also found a wife in Cowen when he married Misha Mills.

right: Mishie (Mills) Allman ca. 1910

Misha Mills was a native of Webster County who attended Salem College and studied music. Misha is remembered by Helen Jeffries as a nice looking woman, always well dressed and very pleasant. She played the piano for the Mt. Zion Church for many years. In 1906, Gaver and Misha became the parents of their first child, Forrest.

"Orlando Calling"
In 1906, an opening for telegrapher, depot operator and freight agent at Orlando was announced. The Orlando depot at that time was a “union” depot, meaning that it was owned and operated co-operatively by the Coal and Coke Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The employee selected to be the telegrapher and to operate the depot would be employed by both railroads. Each railroad would pay one-half of the salary of the employee and the employee would answer equally to each railroad. Gaver, who had become a respected employee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Cowen, bid on the position at Orlando, met the qualifications and requirements of each railroad, and was employed. Thus began the long association of Gaver Allman and his wife Misha with the town of Orlando.

left: the Orlando Depot, where Gaver and his sons worked

Orlando: An Important Railroad Town
For the readers of this story who were not living or were too young to remember the Orlando Depot, its importance to Orlando cannot be overstated. Up to eight passenger trains per day stopped at Orlando. Freight trains also made daily stops there to drop off and pick up freight. Coal trains rumbled through town at all hours of the day and night. All steam locomotives stopped for water at the two water towers at each end of the town. Tanker cars picked up oil produced in the Orlando area. Lumber was shipped by flat car. Cattle and other livestock were shipped by cattle car. Oil and gas well equipment was freighted into the depot. The Orlando merchants received their supplies of barbed wire, cattle feed, hardware, food, furniture, and farm related equipment by rail. Residents of Orlando, Goosepen, Rocky Fork, Indian Fork, Butchers Fork, Copley, Aspinall, Clover Fork, Knawls Creek, Fleshers Run and other parts of southwestern Lewis County and northern Braxton County relied upon the Orlando junction depot for their daily needs.

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With such a large volume of railroad related business in Orlando during its heyday, it was critical that a competent manager have charge of the Orlando Depot and make it run smoothly. Gaver Allman, in his early 20’s, became the man in charge at the Orlando Depot as telegrapher, freight agent, and expediter of railroad business. He became a well-respected man in the community of Orlando from his first day on the job.

above right: On the east side of Conrad's (Brown's, Burgett's) store, looking west with the depot on the right, An 18 foot corn stalk grown by Gaver Allman. Look closely to see 6 ft 8 in tall Pate Conrad standing beside the stalk.

below right: the Allmans in Florida, 4th of July, 1928

Gaver: A Man of the Church
The Allman family became faithful members of the Orlando Mt. Zion Methodist Church, a relationship which would last their lifetimes. Gaver served as the Superintendent of the Sunday school for many years and helped in the revivals at the church. John Allman, the grandson of Gaver and Misha Allman, recalls that revivals at the Mt. Zion church were regular occurrences during the summers in Orlando. John also remembers that Daisy Blake, one of the congregants at the Methodist Church, was saved during every revival and that Daisy certainly should have achieved sainthood.

The Allmans' First Orlando Home
When Gaver and Misha Allman made their abode in Orlando they first lived in a house located beside the later built St. Michael’s Catholic Church. This house would later become known as the Rush Hotel, and would also later serve as a dwelling place for other former Orlando citizens such as Oley Ocheltree and Charlie Knight.

The Allmans' Second and Final Orlando Home

The 2nd house is marked in the photo to the left, taken from the Rumisill-Fury Addition, which is the hill across Oil Creek, where the UB Church and the Orlando School was.

In 1914, the Allmans bought a dwelling from James P. Kennedy, a former Orlando merchant who was moving to New Mexico. The frame house was situated on the hill above what would later become the Charlie Knight store and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Allmans in 1919 bought an adjoining lot from Maggie Kraus. Gaver and Misha Allman made significant improvements to the house purchased from Kennedy. John Allman recalls that the six square columns on the new porch addition to the house were made of Pacific Coast cedar from Spokane, Washington.

The Allman house had a gabled roof and seven rooms, including three large bedrooms and a smaller bedroom. The house had a large attic and an attached washhouse, beneath which was a spring house. The washhouse consisted of three rooms and used natural gas to power a washing machine, gas lights, and a gas stove for heating water. The house was electrified in the late 1940s by the Allmans’ widowed daughter-in-law’s new husband. The house included a double fireplace serving a parlor and sitting room. Down the hill from the house, the Allman’s built a double, hollow brick three car garage and a chicken house and coal house.

An interesting feature of the Allman house was the brick sidewalk which led from the house to the outdoor privy. The brick for the privy sidewalk was salvaged from the platform of the Orlando Depot which was dismantled in 1941.

A Defective Fireplace Hearth
John Allman also recalls that the fireplace in the hearth was plagued with a crack which was never properly repaired and which frequently resulted in hot embers dropping into the wooden foundation below the hearth resulting in house fires. John recalls at least three fires which occurred while his grandparents lived in the home, one of which he extinguished. A later fire was doused by Ed McNemar, a neighbor. John doesn’t recall how the third fire was extinguished. In order to put out the hearth-related fires it was necessary to go beneath the house and douse the fire with water.

In the 1960’s, after Gaver’s death, and while Misha was aged and in a long term care facility at Hopemont in Preston County, Gaver’s oldest son, Forrest, sold the Allman house to Oscar "Junior" and Jane (Stutler) Hawkins, Jr. Unfortunately for the Hawkins family, the former Allman home again caught fire in the late 1960s and burned to the ground. John Allman believes that the defective hearth was probably to blame.

Forrest Allman
Gaver and Misha Allman had two children, Forrest who was born in Cowen before the Allmans moved to Orlando, and Everett who was born in Orlando. Forrest and Everett both attended the Orlando School. Forrest later attended Burnsville High School and graduated with the class of 1925. After graduation, he worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and for a period in the early 1930s, worked the second “trick” at the Orlando Depot, following his father who worked the first shift. Forrest’s younger brother finished the work day by working the third shift. Forrest later secured a position with the Western Maryland Railroad and worked until his retirement as depot operator at Parsons, in Tucker County. .

Forrest Allman at 33 is to the left, Forrest in school is to the right, above.

Evertt Allman is below, left.

Everett Allman
The second and youngest son Everett was plagued from his youth with chronic respiratory problems. So severe was the condition and grave the outlook for his health that Gaver requested a leave of absence from his employer so the family could move to a healthier climate for his young son. The Allmans lived in Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, and Florida for short periods, but to no avail. Everett was treated for his respiratory problem with a new drug named theophylline. Despite these efforts, Everett ’s health continued to decline and he developed other complications as well. Years later, health agencies determined that the drug theophylline was toxic and caused irreversible problems with the liver and kidneys. As the result of this medical error, Everett died in 1939, at the age of twenty nine, leaving a young widow, the former Nora Wooddell, and a young three-old-son, John. Young John lived with his grandparents at Orlando for a few years but returned to his mother after her re-marriage. However, he continued to spend his summers with his grandparents in Orlando.

right: Everett and Nora's son John , his new baby and the new great- grandparents Gaver and Michie.

Gaver: The Fisherman
In his leisure time, Gaver was an avid hunter and fisherman. Helen (Frame) Jeffries recalls that she often saw him, with fishing pole in hand, headed toward the Oil Creek fishing holes in the evenings. Uncle Zeke, the writer of the Buzzardtown News column in the Braxton Democrat, often made note of the various fishermen who haunted Oil Creek between Orlando and Burnsville, and Gaver Allman was a frequently mentioned angler.

Gaver’s 1951 Chevrolet
Tom Jeffries, an automobile aficionado who grew up in Orlando, recalls that Gaver Allman owned a black 1951 Chevrolet two door sedan, Deluxe model. Tom remembers that Gaver would frequently drive his Chevrolet to the ford in Oil Creek in front of the Henline homeplace to wash his car. Tom remembered the Allman automobile was always clean and remarked that Gaver was always fastidious about the condition of his automobile.

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After Gaver's death Misha frequently asked Sallie Bee to drive her to Weston in Gaver’s automobile so she could shop. Misha was known to be careful with her money, and would pay Sallie only twenty five cents for his trouble, or so he said.

(Sallie and Ruby (Brown) Bee lived in a two-story house at the first railroad crossing west of Orlando.) .
right: Gaver and Mishie on their 50th wedding anniversary
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After Gaver’s death in 1961 at age 78, Misha remained in Orlando until she was afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. She then went to live in Parsons with her son Forrest for a period and lived the last seven years of her life at Hopemont care facility in Terra Alta. Mishie died in 1970 at age 88. .

Gaver Allman, master telegrapher and station operator, and his wife, Misha, joined their son Everett, in the Orlando Cemetery upon their deaths. Although their old home is now ashes and part of the earth, and the Orlando Depot is but a memory, the continuing presence of Gaver and Misha Allman in Orlando is marked by a impressive monument in the cemetery on the hill overlooking their adopted town.

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The Morse code at the top says “Orlando Calling.”

The Morse code at the end says, “The End.”

Comments
comment from Dale Barnett
When I was growing up in Orlando, I used to go to the depot and watch Gaver Allman send messages by telegraph. These were the days before electricity so the electrical power to send telegraphic messages was created by means of an electrochemical reaction which utilized a copper cathode, a zinc cathode and copper sulfate crystals suspended in a large glass jar filled with acid.
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comments from John Allman
My grandfather Gaver Allman and my father Everett Allman were telegraphers. My uncle Forrest Allman was also a telegrapher. When I was young, my grandfather arranged for me to learn telegraphy from Okey Lewis, the railroad telegrapher at the Burnsville Depot.

My grandparents, Gaver and Misha Allman, raised large gardens and was self-sufficient in vegetable produce. My grandfather took pride in his gardens and once raised corn that was over eighteen feet tall.

When my grandfather moved his family to Phoenix, Arizona, in search of a healthy climate for my father Everett who had respiratory problems, he bought property in Phoenix. In 1952, my grandfather sold this property which is in downtown Phoenix. It is now the location of the First National Bank of Phoenix.

My grandfather rented one of the stalls in his garage to Worthy Hurst for $1.50 per month. (See a photo of Worthington and Genevieve "Tom" (Skinner) Hurst with their family in the Mar '07 entry about their son Worthington Hurst Jr. who was killed in World War II.)

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Above is John Allman, on the left with father Evertt Allman and on the right with grandfather Gaver Allman, at Seneca Rocks, about 1938.
What/where is Seneca Rocks, WV? A place of extraordinary beauty, great rock climbing.

Death Comes to Bear Run

by David Parmer

Bear Run is a tributary of Oil Creek, approximately three miles northeast of Orlando. Bear Run is a small watershed on the southern slope of Rush Knob and just over the ridge from Goosepen Run and the head of Three Lick Run. The small creek heads approximately two and a half miles from its mouth on Oil Creek, just west of Peterson. The narrow valley of Bear Run is unremarkable, with steep hills on either side of the run, with little bottom land. In older days a road or path went over the hill from the head of the hollow to the Goosepen and Three Lick Run side of the hill.

In 1932, the family of Philip Sheridan Atkinson, known as “Sherd”, and his wife, Fannie (Riffle) Atkinson, the daughter of Ezekiel and Jennie (Harris) Riffle, were eking out a living on Bear Run. The Atkinson family lived in a small shack less than halfway up Bear Run on the left side of the branch. The Atkinsons had one child, a daughter, Mary Agnes.

Prior to moving to Bear Run, the Atkinson family had lived for four or five years on the Ryan place at the head of Three Lick Run. The Bear Run farm was just over the hill to the east from the Ryan place on Three Lick.

Farming on Bear Run was marginal at best when the land was farmed in the early days. A common expression about Bear Run among early inhabitants was “there isn’t much there worth having.” Whatever the case, in 1932, times were hard; “there was no work, little food, and people had to live the best they could.”

Mary Agnes Atkinson had attended the Goosepen School for four or five years prior to moving to Bear Run. Tom Pumphrey, now eighty four years of age, recalls Mary Agnes as slender, nice looking girl with long black hair. She was in the eighth grade while Tom was a second grader. Tom was interested in Mary Agnes because their mothers were friends. Tom reckons that when the Atkinson family moved from Ryan’s place at the head of Three Lick to Bear Run, Mary was about fifteen years old.

Double click on the death certificates of Mary Atkinson and Earl Marsh to enlarge them.

The next time Tom Pumphrey saw Mary, she and an older man named Earl Marsh who also lived on Bear Run came to visit Pumphrey’s mother at Goosepen. The couple came on foot and had walked over the mountain from Bear Run. The visit caused considerable discussion after they had left, focusing primarily on whether the couple was married. Since there was no confirmation by Mary or Marsh that they were married, the Pumphrey household naturally concluded that they were not.

Ruby (Riffle) Hitt lived with her mother Polly Riffle three houses up the creek from the Atkinson family. Ruby was eight years of age in 1932 and knew Mary Atkinson well. “Mary was a beautiful girl,” recalls Ruby. Ruby also knew Earl Marsh, whom she knew as “Ernest.” Marsh was “batching in a shack, owned by the Brinkleys, two places down the creek from the Atkinsons,” said Ruby.

Most everybody on Bear Run knew that Marsh was infatuated with Mary and that Marsh was insanely jealous of her. It was clear that trouble was brewing because Mary would not agree to marry Marsh. Marsh had made his brags that “if he couldn’t have her, no one else could.” Marsh had made this threat to Mary and others on the creek. Mary had related the threat to her mother.

Marsh’s irrational intolerance grew day by day. On June 20, 1932 , he went to his neighbor Jarrett Fox, who lived between Marsh and the Atkinsons, and borrowed two 12 gauge shotgun shells and went up the road toward the Atkinson home.

Mary and her mother and father were on the hill, perhaps 300 or 400 feet behind and above the Atkinson home, hoeing corn in the corn field. It was a hot day. Mary told her mother that she was going to take a break and sit under a large chestnut tree at the edge of the corn field. Fannie and Sherd Atkinson continued to hoe their rows of corn but shortly were startled by a shotgun blast. Turning, Fannie saw Earl Marsh running down the hill toward the road at the bottom of the hill and saw her daughter Mary, bloodied and lifeless under the chestnut tree.

Ruby Riffle Hitt was playing outside her home, a short distance up the creek, and heard the first “boom” of the shotgun. Such sounds, Ruby said, make people stop and speculate on what had happened. Someone present said, “There goes Mary.” A few minutes later, the second “boom” of the shotgun reverberated up the hollow, which brought the remark, “There goes Ernest.”

Earl Marsh, carrying a twelve gauge shotgun, reached the road at the bottom of the hill and came upon an elderly man named Posey. Marsh blurted out to Posey. “I just shot Mary.” Posey was speechless and dumbfounded by what he had just heard. Marsh put the barrel of the shotgun in his mouth and stood motionless for several minutes and then finally squeezed the trigger.

Mary’s funeral was held in the yard at her home. Neighbors from Bear Run and a few others were present. Tom Pumphrey attended the funeral with his mother. Ruby Riffle Hitt was also at the funeral with her mother, Polly. Mary, who had just turned seventeen, was laid to rest in the Peterson Community Cemetery on Oil Creek.

Ruby Riffle Hitt notes that Fannie Atkinson took the murder of her daughter very hard and was never the same afterward. Ruby says, “Fannie went crazy. She was always hearing music. One day she was in my house and all of a sudden jumped up and started dancing and said, “That’s the purtiest music I ever heared.”

Today, Bear Run is mostly wooded with third and fourth growth timber and is dotted with house trailers. The memory of the tragic events of 1932 and the beautiful Mary Agnes is unknown or all but erased from the minds of current residents of Bear Run.

“Murder and Suicide Affected by Fanatic.”

On June 24, 1932 , the headline of the Weston Independent newspaper recounting the brutal murder of Mary Agnes Atkinson, read “Murder and Suicide Affected by Fanatic.”

The news article recounted that the murderer, Earl Marsh, was married to another woman named Mary, and not the Mary Agnes Atkinson that he murdered. The article also revealed that in 1927, Marsh had been arrested for dynamiting the home of Clark Humphrey, and in 1928 had been indicted for statutory rape of his fourteen year old daughter and the felony murder of his new-born child in 1922. His lawful wife, Mary Marsh, testified that Marsh had struck the new-born child in the face with his fist because he did not think the child was his. Marsh was never tried for the murder of his child but he was convicted of the rape of his daughter and served a short sentence in the penitentiary. He was released early and put on probation because of doubts of his sanity.

Marsh left a “suicide” letter blaming his dastardly deed of murdering Mary Agnes Atkinson on Sherd Atkinson, supposedly for preventing Marsh from seeing Mary Agnes. Sherd Atkinson had earlier requested a restraining order against Marsh because of death threats made by Marsh against Atkinson. In the suicide letter, Marsh referenced bank accounts in Weston banks in which he claimed to have a sizable amount of money. Actually, Marsh had no bank accounts and they were a fiction of his deluded mind. Marsh also claimed that Mary Agnes Atkinson was his “common law” wife which appeared to be another fabrication of his demented state. Marsh even had the audacity, in his suicide letter, to request that his victim be buried with him, in the same grave.

Marsh was doing farm work for Harry Miller of Bear Run at the time of the murder

Comment from David Parmer

In 1932, Bear Run was relatively well settled. At the head of the hollow lived Jarrett Freeman. Proceeding down the creek on small farmsteads lived Henry Posey, Pat McDonald, Addison Puffenbarger, Polly Riffle, Harry Miller, Junior Fox, Sherd and Fannie Atkinson, a Kerns family lived on a small branch flowing into Bear Run from the north, opposite the Atkinson farm, and continuing down Bear Run lived Jarrett Fox, and Earl Marsh. An elderly lady named Becky Fox lived in an old log home at the mouth of Bear Run on Oil Creek.

Della Riffle Wymer & Her Family

by Peggy (Posey) Ramey

My mother's mother was Della (Riffle) Wymer. She was a very small stature woman. I can remember going squirrel hunting with her when she was in her late 70s. She was a very humble person who always made do with what she had.

Grandma lived by herself after my grandfather died. She always raised a garden and canned everything that she could. She never worked at a public job, that I know of. Her only income was social security which was very meager.

I remember growing up, that when we would go visit you could always count on cornbread being in the cupboard. She was the best cornbread maker I know. I always loved it when she would fix it and homemade applesauce for a meal. It was the best.

Grandma made lots of quilts, mostly hand sewn. My daughter Heather still has the baby quilt that she made for her when she was born. It is pretty tattered, but still means a great deal to her.

Grandma used to walk from her place on on Three Lick to Orlando to help her sister Josephine Beckner. If times could be more like then, people were so much more family oriented.

Above right is Della (Riffle) Wymer.
Left is Della's husband Marion "Tucker" Wymer, probably in the 1940s.
Right is Della's sister Josie (Riffle) Beckner, probably in the 1960s.
Below left is Della's mom Dona (Blake) Riffle.
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Della grew up on Posey Run, with seven brothers and sisters at the very beginning of the 1900s. Her folks were Charles Lee and Donna (Blake) Riffle.
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Della may not have been large, but her husband Tucker, his given name was Marion Furman Wyman, was one of the tallest fellows in Orlando. Uncle Zeke listed Tucker among the ten tallest men in Orlando. He also mentioned Tucker's skill groundhog hunting. His grand-daughter Peggy recalls that, like so many men of thiat era, Tucker workd his farm but he also had a paycheck job. He worked for the Highway Department.

Several of her favorite people in the world are pictured below.

Front:Jason Floyd Posey, Eric Marshall Ramey, Jeremy Junior Smith

Back:Karri Lea Smith Riddle, Heather Nicole Ramey Lantz, Rebecca Dawn Posey

Karri & Jeremy are the children of Junior & Karen Posey Smith,

Heather & Eric are the children of Dana & Peggy Posey Ramey,

Rebecca & Jason are the children of Jerry & Vickie Peters Posey

This photo was submitted by Karen Smith to the MyFamily bulletin board.

There is a nice photo of Marion Wymer in the Nov '06 entry Making Hay on Oil Creek

Comments

comment by Karen Posey Smith
I to have fond memories of my grandmother Della Riffle Wymer.My husband,children and i were visiting her one day,my son Jeremy was about 2 years old and had the prettiest blonde hair which hung in curls.Grandma was always scolding my husband Junior and i about when were we gonna get that baby's hair cut.So the next day my husband took Jeremy to get his first haircut.We stopped by to visit grandma on the way home.You talk about someone gettng a good scolding,Junior and i got one ,grandma had a fit because we cut all that baby's curls off.I also remember her cornbread,it was the best.My favorite was her applesauce pie.YUMMY!!!

Three Lick Families

Three Lick Road (and stream) runs into Oil Creek Road (and creek) just above downtown Orlando. Three Lick has a rich history separate from Orlando’s, but the two are closely related. Three Lick was the last piece of the Oil Creek watershed to be populated and the pioneers who tamed the forest here were for the most part Irish, Roman Catholic immigrants who had fled the potato famine in their homeland. The pioneering process of turning untouched forest into farmland ran into the early 1900s on Three Lick.

Some of the boys on Three Lick around 19450, left to right-

(Unk) Perkins, Bob Pumphrey, John Dolan, Bob Blake, James Ables, Eugene Sprouse, (unk).

This entry is a work in progress about several families of Three Lick. The Ables, Blakes, Davises, Dolans, Doyles, Pumphries, Poseys, Riffles, Sprouses and Townsends all had children in the Three Lick Elemenary School around 1950. Their teacher and her husband, Earnestine and Charlie Tulley, also lived there. They all have roots deep in the Oil Creek Watershed. We have begun their stories below with the children. We hope folks will send us more about life and times on Three Lick.

Henry & Mamie Ables' Kids

James was the oldest, Iva was the oldest girl, Verna Mae was next and Mary Jane was the little one.
Today James resides at Walkersville. He worked at the glass factories in Weston and with the West Virginia Department of Highways.
Iva married a Curtis and lives at Copley. Iva worked at the State Hospital in Weston and later provided care for elderly people in their homes.
Mary Jane died less than a month ago, September, '07, at age 62. She was a step sister of Verna Mae and Iva, and James.

Verna Mae married a Riffle and resides on McCann’s Run near Weston. Verna is in poor health.

James Ables is on the left, on the right are MaryAnn, Iva and Verna Mae Ables.

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John & Mary (Atchison) Blake's Boy

Bob died in 2001. He was a retired dozer operator with Union Drilling in Buckhannon and Weston Transfer. Bob’s family lived on the Charlie Tulley farm when he attended school on Three Lick.

Bob Blake is to the left.

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Arthur and Mayme (Riffle) Davis' Girl

Shirley graduated from Weston High School. Shirley married Jerrell Duckworth. She worked as an accounting clerk for Firestone Tire and Rubber in Brook Park, Ohio. She currently lives in Kingston, New York. Shirley’s late husband was career military and retired as Postmaster at Cowen.

Shirley's mom and Patty Riffle's dad were siblings. Their common grandparents were Newton and Virgina Belle (Riffle) Riffle who lived on Riffle Run.

Shirley Davis is to the right.

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The kids of Frank and Ann (Gallagher) Dolan

John is an employee of the West Virginia Department of Highways in Clarksburg. His older sister Sue has lived in Charleston for thirty five years. Sue graduated from Weston St. Patrick High School in Weston and she attended Mount St. Joseph’s College in Cincinnati. Sue has been actively involved in the Girl Scouts of America for thirty nine years and holds a lifetime membership in the Girl Scouts.

Sue Dolan is to the left, John Dolan is to the right

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Ethyl Doyle & Her Girls, the "Murphy Twins"

see the Sept '07 entry Dan Murphy: The Interesting Life of an Orlando Irishman and a Red Hot Republican

Jean and Joan grew up on the grandfather Tom Murphy's Three Lick farm. Their mom Ethel Doyle still lives on Three Lick.

left: Ethel Doyle

right: Joan Doyle is on the left, Jean Doyle is on the right.

The girls graduated from Weston's St. Patrick High School.
Jean went to the Clarksburg Business College and she also attended West Virginia Wesleyan College. Jean married a Lantz. She is an accountant and worked many years for Upshur Coals in Buckhannon. She lives in Buckhannon.

Joan married a Stiltner and now lives in Charleston. After high school Joan worked for Dr. Vassar in Weston and later with the Community Action Program in Lewis County. Joan also worked for Moore Business Forms in Buckhannon until she secured a position with the West Virginia Employment Security Commission. In 1974 Joan transferred to Charleston and took a position with the Public Service Commission as a Consumer Affairs Technician. She retired after a career with the West Virginia Public Service Commission with thirty two years of service.

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Bill & Nora Pumphrey's Boy

The Pumphryes lived in the farm adjoining the Dan Murphy farm and close to the Three Lick School. Bob left school and joined the United States Army when he was fifteen years of age. After his mother found out he had joined the service, she initiated steps to take him out of the service. When Bob turned seventeen, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and made a career of the service. Bob retired from the service and works now does electrical work in the oil fields of Texas. He lives in Magnolia, Texas.

Bob Pumphrey is to the right.

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Frank & Verna Sprouse's Boy

Eugene lived in Huntington for thirty years. His full name was Charles Eugene Sprouse. Classmate Patty Riffle was his cousin through her mother and his father. He was the maintenance man for the Coal Exchange Building in downtown Huntington. He died in 2004.

Charles Eugene Sprouse is to the left.

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Junie "Jiggs" & Bridget (Sprouse) Riffle's Girl

Patty Jean remembers she and her cousin Shirley Davis used to walk to Charlie Tulley's the store about a mile away to make small purchases. Patty graduated from Weston High School and she married a Hartley. Today she is retired from service with the Weston Clerk’s Office and the Weston Sanitary Board and lives in Jane Lew.

Patty Jean Riffle is to the right.

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Martin & Lilly Posey's Kids

Raymond and Lucy's family lived on Grass Run. Because of a bout with polio, Raymond could not walk with ease and rode a pony from Grass Run over the hill to the Three Lick School. Lucy would then take the horse to Jimmie Feeney’s barn and stable it until after school. She would return to the barn after school for the pony and take it to Raymond to ride home. Raymond lives on Three Lick.
Lucy married a Boggs. She now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a care home near Weston. Bob Pumphrey said Lucy could really handle work horses when she was young.

Lucy Posey is on the left and Raymond Posey is on the right.

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Jim & Violet Townsend's Kids

Bertha married a Rose. She is in poor health and lives at the Holbrook Nursing Home in Buckhannon.
Raymond was working for Weston Transfer Company at the time of his death in 1966 as the result of a truck accident.
Ruby married a man named Butcher and lives in
Brandywine, West Virginia.

left- Bertha Townsend above, Ruby Townsend below.

right- Raymond Townsend

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For more about Three Lick families see these entries
Oct '07 Mrs. Tulley and the Three Lick School
Sept '07 Dan Murphy: The Interesting Life of an Orlando Irishman
Jan '07 Henry Cole
Feb '07 Michael Vincent Moran
Feb '07 A Family Torn by the Civil War

Mrs. Tulley and the Three Lick School

by David Parmer

Country Schools

Country schools in West Virginia flourished in the early and mid 20th century. Children attended the schools close to their home along with the children of their neighbors. Teachers of these small schools also frequently lived close by and were acquainted with the parents of the students. Today, many former students of one or two room country schools look fondly back on their educational experiences and wouldn’t wish to have had their schooling any other way. This is a story about one of those schools and its teacher.

standing- Mrs. Tulley, Joan Doyle, Jean Doyle, James Ables

kneeling- Mary Jane Ables, Iva Ables, Verna Ables, John Dolan.

Ernestine (Hyre) Tulley

Ernestine (Hyre) Tulley was born in 1904 in Burnsville to Jason and Grace (Dowell) Hyre. Ernestine, along with her sisters Augustine and Irene, and her brother Jason, attended the Burnsville schools, and graduated from Burnsville High School in 1922. After high school, Ernestine attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and embarked on a career in teaching. Her entire teaching career was devoted to small one or two room rural schools throughout Braxton and Lewis Counties. During World War II she taught at the Three Lick School, about three miles from Orlando. Ernestine taught at the Three Lick School for eight years until the closure of the school in 1952.

Based upon interviews with her former students, Ernestine Tulley was a well-liked teacher, perhaps revered, who strove to get the most from each child’s potential. The following testimonials of her former students indicate the respect they had for their one room country school teacher.

Jean Doyle

Jean (Doyle) Lantz, a former Three Lick School student under the tutelage of Ernestine Tulley for eight years, recalls that Mrs. Tulley urged her students to have perfect attendance and to read as many books as possible. Jean remembers that Mrs. Tulley would reward her students with silver dollars for perfect attendance and for reading books, and that she, to this day, has the silver dollars given her by Mrs. Tulley over fifty years ago.
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Sue Dolan

Sue (Dolan) Henke, another of Mrs. Tulley’s students, remembers her as a “great teacher,” who rewarded her students for achievement. Sue remembers helping some of the younger students with their reading, while Mrs. Tulley worked with other students. Sue also remembers that the floors of the Three Lick School were regularly oiled. The expression of “oil and water don’t mix” came to life for Sue on one rainy day when she came running into the school house and slipped on the oily floor and slid into the old Burnside pot-bellied stove which was roaring hot at the time.
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Ethel Doyle - Parent

Ethel Doyle, the mother of twins, Jean and Joan Doyle who attended Three Lick school for eight years, recalls Ernestine as a “nice looking woman and an excellent teacher.”
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Iva Ables

“She was the best teacher I ever had,” remarked Iva (Ables) Curtis, speaking of Mrs. Tulley. She was “really nice, and gave us money when we were good and took us to her husband’s store on Tulley Ridge where we could spend the money on bubble gum, penny candy, and even Cracker Jacks.” Iva also recalled receiving four silver dollars from her teacher for having perfect attendance. Iva particularly remembers crying one day because she cut her foot badly and was not able to walk to school. In order for her to maintain her perfect attendance, Mrs. Tulley came to her home and drove her to school. Iva also remembers that Mrs. Tulley was a kind and gentle teacher and that she recalls only one incident of corporal punishment meted out by her teacher. This occasion involved Iva’s sister, Verna Mae. Mrs. Tulley caught Verna Mae in the act of throwing a spit wad and hitting John Dolan in the head. The punishment was one gentle whack across Verna Mae’s rear end which brought a smile, not tears, from Verna Mae.

Iva is above left, Verna Mae is above right and John Dolan is beneath her.

Patty Jean Riffle

Patty Jean (Riffle) Hartley fondly remembered Mrs. Tulley as a quiet, ”wonderful” teacher who never raised her voice. Patty also remembered that Charlie Tulley, the husband of Ernestine, in addition to being a stockman and rural mail carrier, operated a small general store at his home on Tulley Ridge, and that she and her cousin Shirley Davis used to walk to the store about a mile away to make small purchases. Patty also remembered that Mrs. Tulley would give rides to students, to and from school, which were much appreciated.

A Memorable Car Ride

And speaking of getting car rides from Mrs. Tulley, John Dolan remembers that he and his sister, Sue, were driven home by Mrs. Tulley, both before and after school. John recollects that Mrs. Tulley was not as skillful as a driver as she was a teacher. John remembers on one occasion when Mrs. Tulley lost control of her car, which was full of students, and ran into the ditch along the road. John also remembers that Mrs. Tulley “floorboarded” the accelerator and flew right out of the ditch. He was highly impressed. John’s sister, Sue, who was also a passenger in the Tulley car on that occasion, remembers a little more detail about the incident. Sue recalls that as Mrs. Tulley was driving down the hill from the school she discovered that her car door was not completely shut. As the car was moving down the road, Mrs. Tulley opened the car door to re-close it securely and as she did so, the car drifted and hit the ditch, and just as John remembered, she hit the gas pedal and flew right out of the ditch. Sue didn’t know whether she was scared or impressed by the maneuver. Sue also recalls that when Mrs. Tulley hit the ditch, she said “Oops!!” Afraid to express an emotion at the time of the incident, the kids waited until they had exited the vehicle to have a good laugh.

John Dolan is to the right.

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Three Lick's Sunshine Workers 4H Club, 1950/51

Three Lick's Sunshine Workers 4H Club, 1950/51

top- Bob Pumphrey, Sue Dolan, Jean Doyle, Joan Doyle, Shirley Davis.

middle- Iva Ables, Patty Riffle, James Ables

front- Verna Ables, John Dolan

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Shirley Davis

Another of Mrs. Tulley’s students, Shirley (Davis) Duckworth, remembers her teacher with great affection and admiration. Shirley recalls on one occasion that she had a little difficulty understanding a certain math concept and that during recess Mrs. Tulley took extra time and worked with her individually until Shirley had mastered the concept. She calls her a “great teacher.” Shirley loved to read. She fondly remembers that Mrs. Tulley made special trips to Weston to pick up library books for her to read. Shirley also recollects that her teacher opened the morning classes with Bible verses and that Mrs. Tulley often took the students outside to examine flowers and other things of nature. Shirley observed that almost all of the students who attended Three Lick School were from poor families. Mrs. Tulley would often give money to her students so that they might enjoy having a few pennies in their pockets.

Bob Pumphrey

Bob Pumphrey, now living in Magnolia, Texas, also remembers Ernestine Tulley with great affection. “She was a great teacher, but very strict.” Bob also recalls how devoted Mrs. Tulley was to teaching. During the blizzard of around 1951 snow accumulated over two feet deep. Since this was a time before snow plows kept rural roads open, no vehicles were venturing out on the snow drifted roads. However, when Bob went to the school near his home to start fires in the pot bellied stoves, he was surprised to observe Mrs. Tulley trudging down the road with snow over her knees to keep her morning school appointment. He was amazed that his teacher could have walked so far from her home in such inclement conditions.

Joan Doyle

Joan (Doyle) Stiltner, another of Mrs. Tulley’s Three Lick students, also remembers her teacher fondly. Joan recalls that part of the curriculum at the Three Lick School included cleanliness. Mrs. Tulley appointed “Captains” who would be in charge of a crew of two or three students. The captain would make sure that his or her crew’s hair was combed and hands and fingernails were clean. Mrs. Tulley would furnish the Captains combs and hair brushes to use. Joan also recalls that students would take turns bringing in drinking water and making fires in the pot-bellied stove. Mrs. Tulley paid the students for these chores in stamps which would be redeemed for savings bonds. (Bob Pumphrey recalls that when he handled these pre-school chores he was paid in cash.)

Joan recalls that Mrs. Tulley was a no-nonsense teacher and that there was little call for corporal punishment because her students had been taught respect for themselves and for their classmates. Joan also calls to mind that the bathroom facility at the school was a “WPA two-holer” which sat behind the school. Mrs. Tulley’s rule regarding the outhouse was its use was limited to recess and lunch times. Joan observed that even though Mrs. Tulley was a strict disciplinarian, she also was quite lenient in some respects, An emphasis on poetry and memorization in the Tulley class room is also relived by Joan, who believes, that, after nearly sixty years, she can still recite Longfellow’s The Village Blacksmith.

Raymond Posey

Raymond Posey, who still lives on Three Lick, was Mrs. Tulley’s student for one year at the Three Lick School. Raymond and his sister Lucy had attended school the previous year at Knawl’s Creek. Raymond’s primary recollection of Mrs. Tulley was that she was a “strict teacher, but a good teacher.” One of Raymond’s most memorable memories is that he rode a pony to school from his family’s home on Grass Run.

Three Lick Students at the home of Ernestine and Charlie Tully

on Tully Ridge in 1951

The Three Lick School Closes

The Lewis County Board of Education had been considering for several years the closure of the Three Lick School. Local opposition to closure had managed to keep the school open for several years. Finally however, the end of the Three Lick School came after the 1951-1952 school year. The Lewis County Board of Education closed the school and sent all of the Three Lick students to the Walnut Grove School on Oil Creek. Thus came to an end another neighborhood, one room school in Lewis County and the beginning of school consolidations throughout the state..

Ernestine Tulley Goes to the Walnut Grove School

After the closure of the Three Lick School, Ernestine Tulley was transferred to the Walnut Grove School. Some of her students from the Three Lick School were bussed to Walnut Grove and continued having Mrs. Tulley as their teacher.

Mrs. Tulley ended her teaching career at the Walnut Grove School. Although critically ill for several months, Mrs. Tulley continued to teach the 3 R’s, as well as courtesy and manners to her students at Walnut Grove, until she died of cancer in 1959 at the age of 55. Joan (Doyle) Stiltner, touched by the passing of Mrs. Tulley, solemnly and respectfully attended the funeral services in Weston for her former teacher. The school bell, used by Mrs. Tulley during her teaching career at all of the one room schools she taught, was thus silenced. Mrs. Tulley was laid to rest at the Weston Masonic Cemetery.
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Comments
comment 1 Jean (Doyle) Lantz, the eldest twin
What fond memories you have recaptured for me reading your story on our teacher Ernestine Tulley. I am proud and honored to have been her student and because of her teaching skills, I must say that the students you just interviewed have done quite well for themselves. I also was impressed that the students that has been separated by many miles still remembers which twin is which. They all identified us correctly.

Note to Jean- We're tickled that we did okay. We'd like to kepp alive the rememory of the Irish community on Three Lick. You family stories and any photos of your days on Three Lick, or of grandparents, etc would be a great help. Contact me at orlandostonesoup@yahoo.com or David Parmer at gbrcliffs@verizon.net . -donna

comment 2 Patty Jean (Riffle) Hartley When I attended Three Lick School in the late 1940s and early 1950s, few people had cameras. Mrs. Tulley frequently brought her camera to school and took photos of the students. As a reward for some achievement, such as perfect attendance, Mrs. Tulley would give the achieving student a photograph. Although by today’s standards, this may seem a trifle, such a gift at that time was precious. I saved the photographs given to me by Mrs. Tulley, which I would like to share.

-Many of the photos in this entry & the next one posted are from Patty Jean's collection. Thank you. -Donna.

comment 3 Tom Pumphrey Murphreesboro, Tennessee
When my family lived in the Three Lick-Goosepen area, I knew Charlie Tulley, who married Earnestine Hyre. Miss Hyre taught school at Three Lick and also earlier at Goosepen. Sometime before World War II, Charlie was courting Earnestine who lived in Burnsville. On a really bad winter day around 1939 or 1940, Charlie asked my brother Jim to drive him to Burnsville so he could visit with Earnestine and her family at her home. I went along for the ride. My brother drove Charlie's car which was a sixty horsepower 1939 or 1940 Ford. The day was bitter cold in the dead of winter. The roads were covered with frozen, icy snow.

When we got to Burnsville, Charlie told us to wait in the car while he visited with the Hyre family in their home on Church Street. He was gone over an hour. Meanwhile, my brother Jim and I sat in the car. The passenger side window was rolled down and the window hand crank was missing. We couldn’t roll the window up. My brother and I nearly froze to death waiting on Charlie. When he left the Hyre home and came to the car, he saw how cold we were. He said he forgot to tell us that the missing hand crank was in the glove box.

right- Earnestine Hyre in 1922

comment 4 Donna Gloff Pleasant Ridge, MI

Mentioning The Village Blacksmith reminded me of the one backsmith photo we have- B. I. Hefner and his shop outside of Burnsville, ca. 1905.

The Village Blacksmith

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan:
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hear the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onwards through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!