Bill Barnett: A Proud Papa

A valuable source for the older history of Orlando is Dale Barnett of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Dale grew up in Orlando during the late 1920s, 1930s, and the early part of the 1940s until he, while still in high school, joined the military during World War II.

Dale is the son of Bill Barnett, the subject of several biographical sketches on this website, and his wife, Marie (Parmer) Barnett. After being discharged from the military when World War II was over, Dale went back to high school at Burnsville and finished his high school education. After finishing high school, Dale went on to Salem College and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree. Dale made teaching his career and taught until his retirement in the Parkersburg schools.

To the left, Bill and Marie (Parmer) Barnett.

To the right, with the aid of his dog, Jack, young Dale takes responsibility as older brother to his infant sister Betty.
To the left, below, is Dale in his college years.

Uncle Zeke had his eyes on Dale from the time he was born, and noted in his September 11, 1924 Buzzardtown News column, the happy event of his birth:

“On Saturday night of last week, a baby was born to Billy Barnett and wife of Orlando. It being their first born they feel very proud. Billy says he feels bigger than Billy Sunday, Billy Bryan, Billy Goat or any other Billy. Billy feels so big he can’t get clothes big enough to wear. It took seven coffee sacks to make him a pair of socks. Billy, who has a voice as melodious as a shite poke, now sits and sings, ‘By O Baby,’ all day long.”

Uncle Zeke also noted about a month after the birth of Bill and Marie Barnett’s son, that Bill says he “thinks his son is a contortionist because he can now fall out of bed without being killed.”

Thanks to Uncle Zeke for reporting on the proud papa and his son.



Many entries in this 'blog have been enriched with Dale Barnett's offerings. for one, see the Mar '07 entry, Orlando Characters
Also, Numerous entries include comments by the ever-observant "Uncle Zeke." Read about the newspaper columnist and B & O Trackman P.N. Blake of Posey Run in the Oct '06 entry Uncle Zeke From Buzzard Town and the Dec '06 entry Trouble At Uncle Zeek's House.

Orlando Characters

Stories About Some of Orlando's Colorful Citizens

related by Dale Barnett to Steve Barnett
to the left, Dale Barnett in the 1940s.

Every person in the area had an individual trade or job. And they all had their idiosyncrasies.

Burt and John Blake
Burt and John were bachelor brothers who shared a house. John ran the gristmill in Orlando. He also repaired watches and clocks. Burt did all the cooking for the brothers. His occupation was making baskets and bottoming chairs out of oak splits.

He would go into the woods and cut down a sapling oak tree and split it out into strips. He would then roll them up into a coil and take home. Dad said you could often see him walking down the road carrying them on his shoulder. When it was time to use the splits he would soak them in water until them became pliable enough to use. I have one of his baskets and dad has one with the original price still on it in pencil. Amazingly neither brother could read or write.

Clockworks are generic, from the internet. Basket was made by Burt Blake, sold by Charlie Knight and now owned by Helen Jeffries.

See the Jan '07 entry Burt Blake – The Basket Man

Comment from David Parmer: Although a lot of people assumed they were brothers, they were in fact cousins, according to my sources.

Rosie Blake
Rosie lived up Clover Fork in one of the hollows that went back into the hills. She could not read or write. Her cash crop was a flock of turkeys. She would usually have over one hundred turkeys to sell each fall that she had raised. Each morning, she would take the turkeys out into the woods to feed. Her hens had been trained so that they would mind her when she told them to do something. Rosie would turn over rocks, split open rotten logs etc. to help her birds find bugs and worms to eat.

She had a granddaughter who lived with her, who Rosie refused to send her to school. Her quote was “I got along without learnin. My daughter got along without learnin. She don’t need no learnin either”. She finally relented when they threatened to take her away from Rosie for not going to school. Her teacher at school was Virginia Skinner, who dad knew. She told dad she was the smartest girl in the school. Turkey photo is generic but the birds are the breed Rosie most likely raised, American Bronze. See the March '07 entry Fowl Business in Orlando

Eli Riffle & Charlie Blake
Eli was the town blacksmith. [Eli b. 1875 s/o Jacob Isaac and Matilda Riffle] Charlie was the wheelwright. [Charlie b. 1850, s/o William L. & Rebecca Jane Blake] Eli & Charley were brothers-in-law, Eli married to Esta Blake, Charlie’s sister. Everyone brought their wagons to Charlie to repair. He would either make or repair wooden wagon wheels. He also made chairs.

They went into business together and set up a small gristmill. They bought a set of used burrs and baby Overland auto to use for power. I assume they use the rear axle for the power to turn the wheel. Eli told Charlie “We are rich!” Charlie said, “No we are just well to do” They could not read or write. Chair was made by Charlie Blake. See the Jan '07 Charlie Blake, Master Woodworker. A used grindstone, generic, from the internet.

WG Blake and Joe Blake
They were brothers whose elevator did not go all the way to the top, in fact it probably did not get far out of the basement. They were always being conned into doing something that would get them in to trouble.

Comment from David Parmer: W. G. Blake helped out some on the Lee Blake's saw mill operation, although W. G. was not that much help because of his mental limitations. W. G. Blake also helped Bee Heater at times in his well drilling business. W. G. ended his days at Weston State Hospital where reportedly he proudly served as “Captain of Dishwashing.”

Bud Blake
He would go to all of the local wakes to eat. (See wakes under local history). At one wake some of the women fixed him a sandwich of bologna rinds. In those days bologna came in a large tube like a pepperoni stick. You would slice off the meat and peal off the rind before eating. Bud chewed the sandwich forever. When he was done someone asked him how he like the sandwich. He said “it was the toughest he ever ate”.

To the right, a slice of raisin pie, also know as "funeral pie" Bud Blake would have been served a lot of these at Orlando funerals. See the Sept '06 entry Funeral Pie

Clarence Scarf
He was injured working for the railroad and received a cash injury settlement. Dad said he thought it was around $10,000 which would be a large amount of money at the time. He then had every tooth in his mouth capped in gold. He occasionally substituted at the post office and did some carpentry work. He used the settlement money to build a garage along banks of Oil Creek just west of the bridge. The garage had 4 stalls and was used to repair Model T’s. I remember the building as a kid before it was torn down sometime in the 60’s. He soon ran out of money and lost the business.

To the right is a generic photo of a Model T from the internet.

Comment from David Parmer: According to Uncle Zeke the settlement received by Mr. Scarff was $13,100. The settlement was taken in 1926. That same year Scarff built his garage, bought a new Dodge, built a new addition on to his house, and bought a new radio.

Bill Conrad
He built store that was later owned by Deck Brown and then his son Ford. He lived there with his sister Hallie who was never married. Bought any thing he could in bulk such as one hundred pound sacks of flower, beans and salt. He would then pre way into one or five pound bags. The bags were alleged to always be lighter than they were supposed to be. He had a radio he listened to. During WWII, he heard the pope had died on a news broadcast. He heard this and said “there will be hell to pay now. They done bumbed the poke” (bombed the pope).

Vintage Ramone's Pink Pills thermometer. It's the image that speaks most graphicaly to me of the store, but I only remember the store from W.D. Brown's day. Anyone have a better image for Bill Conrad's store? See the March '07 entry J. W. “Bill” Conrad

Lee Blake
He hand cut railroad ties in the days when the railroad would still buy them. Today, they require crossties to be machine cut before they will buy them. He would go into the woods and cut down a tree. He would then shape the trunk into the dimensions of a railroad tie and haul them out of the woods to sell. Dad said it was the only thing he did for a living that he knew of.

To the right, a stack of railroad ties, generic, from the internet.

For more on Lee Blake, see the Mar '07 entry, Lee Blake – Orlando Lumberman & Genealogist

Claude Mick, Alva Barnett, Press Brag
Claude Mick was the Postmaster. Alva Barnett (my great uncle) and Press Bragg delivered the mail on the 2 rural routes. They used a car in the summer when the roads were passable and horses the rest of the time. My grandfather Bill Barnett also delivered the mail at one time. Generic RFD mailbox. . . . . For a great photo & more, see the Feb '07 entry Orlando Mail Delivery In The Early 1900s

Fowl Business in Orlando

by Steve Barnett, from Dale Barnett's remembrances of Orlando in the 1920s to 1950s.

Rosie Blake Raised Turkeys.

Rosie Blake lived up Clover Fork in one of the hollows that went back into the hills. She could not read or write. Her cash crop was a flock of turkeys. She would usually have over one hundred turkeys to sell each fall that she had raised. Each morning, she would take the turkeys out into the woods to feed. Her hens had been trained so that they would mind her when she told them to do something. Rosie would turn over rocks, split open rotten logs etc. to help her birds find bugs and worms to eat.

She had a granddaughter who lived with her, who Rosie refused to send her to school. Her quote was “I got along without learnin. My daughter got along without learnin. She don’t need no learnin either”. She finally relented when they threatened to take her away from Rosie for not going to school. Her teacher at school was Virginia (McCoy) Skinner,1 who Dale Barnett knew. Virginia told Dale she was the smartest girl in the school.

Bill Barnett Processed Turkeys,
My grandfather, Bill Barnett would purchase farmers turkeys and process them for shipping (see Rosie Blake). The turkeys were killed by cutting a blood vessel in side their beaks and then plucked. Entire families would come into town to pluck the feathers. They would be paid 10 cents a turkey. Often the adults would pull the large feathers and then hand the bird to the kids, because their smaller hands could pull the pin feathers easier. A family would have a good pay day at 10 cents a bird at this time.

The birds were shipped whole with even the head and feet left on. That is the way the merchants wanted them. The winters were a lot colder at this time than they are now, so the birds did not spoil. After plucking, the turkeys were packed in sugar barrels my grandfather had accumulated over the summer. He would pull the top hoop off, cover the barrels with a peace of canvas or feed sack, then fasten the hoop back on the barrels to keep the material in place. They would be shipped on the noon train and be in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore by the next morning.

To the left are Bill & Marie Barnett in the 1950s

. . . And Ducks & Geese.
Ducks were also shipped this way. They were plucked by dipping in boiling water and them placing in a burlap sack. The sack would then be rubbed over the ducks and the feathers would come off. If they were not left in the water long enough or were left in too long this feathers did not come off easily. Farmers also had geese and guineas around the house but there was not much of a market for these birds. They were used as watch dogs, making lots of noise when an animal or stranger came around. Some of the geese could be very mean. The geese were also used as a source of down feathers for use in bedding and pillows.
To the right is a closeup of down.

1. For more on teacher Virginia Skinner see the Sept '06 entry Virginia McCoy Was a School Teacher at Clover Fork

Comments

comment 1 Donna Gloff

The following discussion about Heritage Turkeys was taken almost word-for-word from The New Farm, an e-publication by the Rodale Institute.

What breed of turkeys did Rosie and the other Orlando farmers raise? Probably Bronze or perhaps Narragansett, certainly a breed very different from those that are factory-raised by Butterball today.

In the late 1800s the American Poultry Association inventoried the varieties of domesticated turkeys in America and identified eight "standard" varieties. Smart, colorful birds raised in barnyards and pastures, "standard" turkeys provided meat, eggs, and on-farm pest control until the 1950s. The two varieties that were most popular were the Bronze, shown on the left and at the top of the entry, and the Narragansett, to the right.

In the 1950s the agricorporations developed the “Broadbreasted" or "Large White” variety which served the needs of factory farming. Today, more than 90% of all turkeys raised in the U.S. are the factory-raised, antibiotic-injected, artificially-inseminated “Broadbreasted / Large White” variety.

In the last few years the turkeys that are a part of our heritage, the Bronze, Narragansett, Bourbon Red and other hearty, flavorful birds are again becoming of interest. Small farmers are raising the "heritage" varieties of turkeys for a variety of reasons economic, ecological, aesthetic, political and health-related.

A History of Orlando

by Dale Barnett, as told to his son, Steve Barnett

To the right, Dale Barnett, about the time he graduated from Salem College Dale is the son of Bill and Marie (Parmer) Barnett. He grew up in Orlando.

Orlando was originally was a shipping point for the local oil industry. Men and supplies would arrive in the Orlando area on the B&O Railroad. They would them move to the oil fields via local transportation, probably horse and wagon, and would return to town to resupply. I assume Oil Creek got its name from the oil fields in the area. Dad said that freight was also delivered for many of the small stores in the surrounding area.

This rail line ran from Weston to Richwood passing through Orlando and Burnsville. Travelers could go from Weston to Clarksburg, where they could connect with the main B&O line running from Baltimore to St. Louis. This allowed travel by rail to almost any area of the United States.

The fuzzy photo on the left, above, shows some of Orlando's horse teams going out in the morning. Below right is Orlando about 1905, taken from Morrison's hill.

There were numerous trestles between Orlando and Burnsville, which limited the weight that could travel this line. This prevented coal from being hauled in any large quantity by this route. Probably the heaviest loads were lumber from the Richwood area. This weight limit would have an effect on the town’s future.

In 1905, the Coal & Coke railroad was completed from Elkins to Charleston. This line was built to haul coal out of the southern coal fields. The Coal & Coke came down Clover Fork and crossed the B&O tracks at Orlando, and continued down Oil Creek to Burnsville on its way to Charleston. The builders did not install any connecting tracks between the new railroad and the old, which would allow the movement of railcars from line to the other. This would also have great significance for the future of Orlando. Eventually the oil fields played out, but the junction of the two railroads caused an economic boom in the town.

During this era, roads were extremely poor. They were often unimproved dirt roads, especially in the country. Rain and snow could turn them into an impassable muddy quagmire. This made travel over a great distance impractical. Only local people used them, and people did not venture far from home. The building of the railroads in the United States changed everything. Passengers could now travel anywhere in the country in relative comfort. New markets for farmers products opened up and people could order anything and have it shipped by rail in few days. Orlando was in the perfect location to benefit from the railroads.


The unpassable road to the left is from the photo essay Walter Donaldson Orlando WV prepared by the WPA in the 1930s.

Orlando boomed as a rail center due to the large numbers of passengers who traveled by train between 1905 and the early 1940’s. Passenger trains would run between Richwood and Weston, leaving in the morning and arriving in Orlando around noon time. Passenger trains also running between Elkins and Charleston would arrive in Orlando at the same time. Since there were no connecting tracks the trains would stop for an hour or longer to allow passengers to switch trains, along with there luggage. Freight and mail would also be switched from one train to the other. Other freight would be dropped off for local businesses and local goods would be picked up to ship to other parts of the country. All this had to be done by hand, providing jobs for local people. The passengers might stop in local restaurants to eat while waiting, or maybe shop in a local store and make a purchase. Some passengers would possibly spend the night at a local hotel. There was also a Midnight Flyer, which ran between Charleston and Elkins. The train would leave either Charleston or Elkins around five PM and arrive in the other town in the morning. The train would usually arrive in Orlando around midnight.

To the right is Irma Haymond with her daughter and a friend visiting Orlando from Burnsville.

Mail delivery was also an interesting affair by train. In towns where trains stopped, such as Orlando, mail would be picked and delivered from the mail car and the post office. In small whistle stops, the train normally would not stop. Mail to be delivered would be tossed out the door as the train passed by, and mail to be picked up would be snagged of off a pole by an arm cranked out of the mail car window. Depending on the rail line, they might also leave mail by having it snagged off of the side of the mail car. The mail that was picked up would be sorted on the train for delivery. For more see entry Feb '07 Orlando Mail Delivery In The Early 1900s

Dad said coal trains going up Clover Fork would slow to a crawl with steam engines pulling from the front and pushing from behind. At certain spots along the tracks the tops of the cars would be level with the bank where the tracks passed. People in need of fuel for heat would hop on the full cars and toss off the larger lumps of coal. They would then hop off the car before the train reached the tunnel. After the train passed the coal would be picked up and taken home.


Above, left, a heavily loaded coal train using mutiple engines to make the grade along Oil Creek & Clover Fork

At one time, this traffic allowed Orlando to support four hotels, four restaurants, a picture gallery, two pool halls, a barber shop, two doctors, a post office, plus several stores and warehouses. There was also an Odd Fellows lodge in town. Numerous houses were built on the hills overlooking town, where the local businessmen lived, and others lived on the top floors of the store buildings.

After WWII, roads had been improved and many of them were paved. People purchased their own cars and traveled in them at their convenience. The age of the automobile had arrived and train travel decreased to the point it was not profitable. Passenger trains were discontinued and the B&O purchased the Coal & Coke railroad. Then the B&O tore up the tracks from Weston to Burnsville to eliminate the trestles and hauled freight and coal up the Clover Fork line to Grafton. With trains no longer stopping in Orlando, most of the businesses closed. The buildings were abandoned. Some burned and others were torn down for their lumber. The railroads had been the only industry and the town slowly died as people moved away.

For more on Orlando horse teams see an entry from Mar '06 A Town With Broad Shoulders

Comments
Comment 1 Donna Gloff
Here is an explanation of how Oil Creek got its name. Edward Smith* wrote in 1920 that Oil Creek had gotten its name from the oil that floated on its surface.

Smith went on to tell a tale he doubted was true. He'd heard that when oil began to be valuable a land purchasers came to check out Oil Creek. When they were there, a couple of our citizens went upstream with a barrel of oil to dump into the creek to be sure these prospectors got the right idea. If Smith really doubted the tale, I think he had a thing or two to learn about small towns in general and Orlando in particular.

*Smith, Edward Conrad. 1920. A History of Lewis County, West Virginia. Weston, WV: Edward Conrad Smith.

Farming In Orlando: Bill & Marie Barnett

by their grandson, Steve Barnett

Bill Barnett married Marie Parmer. They lived in several houses in Orlando. At one time they lived on the hill overlooking the Burnsville road, then they had a farm on Clover Fork, and finally lived in a house on the hill below the Orlando Cemetery.

My grandfather made a living buying and selling cattle. He would buy calves in the spring and sell the full grown cows in the fall to make a profit. He would also buy lambs and do the same thing. Other things he would do was buy turkeys and ducks, pluck them and ship on the train to various cities at a profit.

They raised chickens for meat and eggs, a hog or two for butchering, grew field corn for the animals, and always had a large garden for canning and fresh vegetables in the summer. Meat was preserved by salting and smoking. My grandfather would hang hams in the granary in feed sacks. I can remember him bringing the ham up to the house and cutting several slices out for dinner. The hams were heavily salted and did not have to be refrigerated. My grandmother would soak the meat in water to remove the excess salt before cooking for dinner, otherwise it would be to salty to eat. Left over food scraps from dinner would be mixed with a powdered formula and water in a bucket and used to slop the hogs.

At one time he also delivered milk to some local people in town. This would not be allowed today because the milk was raw and not pasteurized. Raw milk also tastes much different from the pasteurized milk sold in stores today. As a little kid I refused to drink milk from the store because it did not taste the same as what I got from my grandparents. Mom and dad finally had to “forget” to bring milk home after a visit so I would start drinking milk from the store.

If I happened to be visiting, I would help bring the cows in from the field for my grandfather to milk and then watch grandmother straining the fresh milk through cheese cloth and then into quart bottles for delivery. Then I would tag along as he delivered the milk. I also remember my grandmother churning cream into butter. I still have her churn that she used.

When my grandparents lived on Clover Fork, there house was the first house on the right as you started up the road. During the boom years of the railroads, my grandparents would sell dairy products, vegetables and anything else they could grow to the train crews. People from the trains would buy anything they had for sale. This was a lucrative business at the time.

When the grandchildren were born there was always a pony kept on the farm for us to ride.

To the right above is a picture of my grandfather, my cousin Connie Mick, and myself riding a pony at his house. Behind them, left to right, the Morrison home, Warehouse, Ford & Bea Brown's home and Jack & Marianne Riffle's home.


See Marie as a girl with her brother-in-law Dave Bennett at the bottom of the entry Nov '06 Telling Tales
See more on raw milk at Apr '06 entry Cow Milk & Where Calves Come From

Orlando Mail Delivery In The Early 1900s

Submitted by Steve Barnett, from his father's, Dale Barnett's recollections.

Claude Mick was Orlando's Postmaster from 1927 to 1947 and Alva Barnett and Press Bragg delivered the mail on the 2 rural routes. They used a car in the summer when the roads were passable and horses the rest of the time. Alva's brother Bill Barnett also delivered the mail at one time.

To the right are Bill and Alva on horseback with the mail sacks on their saddles.
At this same time, mail delivery was also an interesting affair by train. In towns where trains stopped, such as Orlando, mail would be picked and delivered from the mail car and the post office. In small whistle stops, the train normally would not stop. Mail to be delivered would be tossed out the door as the train passed by, and mail to be picked up would be snagged of off a pole by an arm cranked out of the mail car window. Depending on the rail line, they might also leave mail by having it snagged off of the side of the mail car. The mail that was picked up would be sorted on the train for delivery.

Above is a stock photo of the interior of a railroad car that was used as a traveling Post Office, as Dale and Steve describe. The cars were of standard design across the country. This photo was taken in the 1920s. For more see The National Museum of American History

Bonnie (Brown) Neal provides pictures, left to right, of Claud Mick, Alva Barnett and Press Bragg, mentioned above, from a photo taken in the 1960s at Press Bragg's retirement party.

See also tan entry in Dec. '06 Postmasters

See also an entry in Feb. '07 Press Bragg's Retirement Party

Lee Skinner Rode His Bicycle

by David Parmer
Lee Skinner. was tall and slender and had a habit of standing and staring which prompted people to comment that he looked like a "standing fence post." Bits and pieces are all we have about Lee. He was a bachelor all his life and lived in a shack on stilts that he built on Oil Creek, just upstream from downtown Orlando. And he was eccentric.

Lee's full name was Alfred Lee Skinner. He was born in 1892 to Charlie and Maggie Janie (Cosner) Skinner. To the left is Lee with his family. The kids, from left to right are Lee, Burt, Ethel, Wes, Necie, Wayne and Frank. Nora is on Maggie's lap. Click on the photo to enlarge it. To the right is a closeup of Lee taken from that photo
(Notice Lee, Ethel and Necie are wearing clothes made from the same bolt of fabric.)

From his WWI registration card we know that Lee was 26 and living in Akron, Ohio, working for the Erie Rail Road when he went into the army in October, 1918. The War to End All Wars ended a month later, Nov 11, 1918. He first went to Camp Gordon, Georgia. From there he went into Depot Service Company 41, which was one of two units that funneled men into depleted fighting units in France. The Armistice had already been declared by that time. From the records available we can't tell whether he was assigned anywhere else before he was honorably discharged in July, 1919, but Dale Barnett, for one, understood that Lee had been in France and Germany.

The next information we have about Lee is from 1923. In 1923, when Lee was about 30, he had the following gristly experience. Lee's 16 year old brother Wayne was killed in a train accident. Lee went to Gilmer Station to make the official identification of his brother. It is reported that the bodies were so mangled that it was difficult to reconstruct the body parts which were scattered along the railroad right of way. The severed head of Wayne Skinner was awaiting identification in a five gallon bucket. Lee later related that he reached into the bucket and lifted his brother’s head by the hair to make the identification.
See the Feb '07 entry Death Rides the Rails

In the early 1930s Lee Skinner and his brother Bert became a little over zealous during a revival at the UB Church and became so engrossed in the experience that they became somewhat out of control. The Skinner brothers would not leave the revival and were causing such a commotion that they had to be wrestled out of the church. Lee and Bert were then manhandled down to the Orlando school house where they were both tied to the school house porch columns for the rest of the evening. Reportedly, as remembered by Dale Barnett, the rope for the school bell at the school was cut off and was used to hog-tie the two brothers. Mildred McNemar however advises us that it was not the rope to the school house bell which was used to bind brothers Lee and Bert, but rather the school house flag pole rope, according to Mildred’s foster father, Bill Henline. Mildred also recalls that the account of the incident she had been told was that Lee Skinner was jumping from pew to pew, chanting “Feed my sheep, feed my lambs, Preacher in the pulpit, steal my wool.” Now whatever the meaning of that demonstration may have been we don’t know, or if it meant anything at all.

"Uncle Zeke," P. N. Blake, a faithful United Brethren Church member, reported in his newspaper column of February 11, 1932 that Lee Skinner and Bert Skinner of Orlando were adjudged insane and lodged in Weston State Hospital. Presumably, the brothers had a short stay in the State Hospital until they lost their religion, or at least their religious zeal, at which time they were discharged as “normal” and resumed life in Orlando. From the April '07 entry Tales from the U. B. Church

In the 1950s and '60s Lee Skinner rode a bicycle all over the country. A couple of times when I was a boy in Burnsville, I saw Lee (I didn't at first know who he was) riding a bicycle through Burnsville. I thought it odd because a grown man riding a bicycle was an unusual sight to see. At any rate many years ago I was told that Lee rode his bicycle to the Clarksburg VA Hospital (40 to 50 miles, all up and down steep hills) to see a doctor because he was having trouble with his legs! Dale Barnett repeated this story to me as gospel. Apparently Lee was trying to get VA disability for a service connected leg injury from his tour in France and Germany in World War I.

Comments
comment 1
Bill Beckner remembers Lee Skinner in the 1950s. One thing he remembers is that every day Lee would go into W.D. Brown's store and buy a can of condensed milk and a package of crackers for his dinner and he'd walk home tossing the can and the package in the air.

Bill also remembers that an auto would pull up in front of the store and Lee would go down to the car and take care of some kind of business. Bill was told that Lee bought Jewish war bonds.


1. Ancestry.com has collated government military information on Lee Skinner as follows:
"157 Depot Brigade to 15 Oct 1918; Cp Gordon Ga Oct Automatic Replacement Draft to 13 Nov 1918; Depot Service Company 41 Army Service Corps to Discharge Private American Expeditionary Forces 27 Oct 1918 to 5 July 1919. Honorable discharge 11 July 1919."
I believe this means he first went to Camp Gordon, Georgia. From there he went into Depot Service Company 41, which was one of two units that funneled men into depleted fighting units in France. The Armistace had already been declared by that time. I can't tell if he was assigned anywhere else before he was honorably discharged in July, 1919. -D. Gloff


His brothers were Bert, Frank. and Wesley. Bert lived in Orlando and Frank lived in Buckhannon. They had three sisters Nora, Ethel, and Necie. Nora married a Rogers and lived in Richmond, Virginia, Ethel (Charlotte Ethel) married a Blake. Necie married first a Freeman and then Robert Mitchell. Lee was 87 when he died in 1989."