Artifact – Page 3 – Dare to Discover

Campbell Rocking Chair

March 18, 2016March 16, 2016 by admin

Grace Lavenia Campbell was born on 18 July 1883 in Winefrede, a small coal mining and railroad community not far from Chesapeake and Chelyan in Kanawha County, West Virginia. She was my maternal great-grandmother. Grace’s granddaughter Carol Lavenia Hopkins is my mother, and recalls this small rocking chair in Grace and Henry’s home in St. … Read more

The Truman Shirt

October 4, 2016March 16, 2016 by admin

The Truman Shirt is one of the more colorful stories and artifacts of Farley family lore. The Truman Shirt was conceived in 1952 by Willis Hite Farley (1906-1983), my paternal grandfather. Politics and government were a big part of the life of Willis (“Grandaddy”); that gene clearly skips a generation as my sister Amy Farley most definitely inherited it! The story below is told by his son (my father) Alan Keith Farley.

Bible of Alice Hopkins

March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by admin

These pages come from a Hopkins family Bible that likely belonged to Martha Alice Hopkins (1858-1946, known as “Alice”), my great-great-grandmother. This Bible passed on from, presumably, Alice Hopkins to Carl Hopkins, then to his son Henry, and eventually to Henry’s nephew Jim, who passed it on to me.

Annie’s Civil War Letter to Mandaville

March 18, 2016March 15, 2016 by admin

One amazing artifact in my possession is a letter dated 28 December 1862 written by Letha Anne “Annie” Ballard Hopkins to her husband Mandaville “Mandy” Jackson Hopkins. Annie and Mandy are my 3rd great-grandparents.

Thomas W. Farley Letter to Son Fred Farley

March 16, 2016March 15, 2016 by admin

This letter from 1884 was written by Thomas Willis Farley (1841-1903) to his sons “Jimmie” (James Henry Farley, 1877-1960) and “Freddie” (Frederick Lee Farley, 1879-1945). Also mentioned are his children “Annie” (Anne Blanch Farley, 1875-1960), “Sutton” (William Sutton, 1872-1938) and “Pattie” (Pattie Pugh, 1870-1921), as well as his wife, Nancy Rigg Farley (1847-1923). Thomas Willis Farley was working in Coal Valley at that time.

I have this original letter; my recollection is that was in the possession of my grandfather, Willis Hite Farley, who was grandson of the writer. At some unknown time, someone (probably my aunt Alice) preserved the letter through lamination. It made its way to my house sometime in the last ten years or so from my father.