I should say that these pages, in total, comprise a series of sketches, not a highly detailed family history. I’ve been intentionally brief on several topics; my real purpose is to give you a profile, not an in-depth report. So as you read, do so with the knowledge that these are the “high spots” in … Read more
“Granddad Farley” – 1879-1945 Fred Farley (my paternal grandfather) born in 1879 and died in 1945, was a well-spoken man who grew up around Kanawha Falls, West Virginia. He was a friendly, outgoing man who loved a good laugh, loved to play a card game called Setback, and loved to tease his young grandchildren. Everyone … Read more
Catherine Elam – “Grandma Hale” – 1852-1945 Born in 1852, Catherine Elam Hale was my great-grandmother, my mother’s paternal grandmother. In her later years she lived with my Hale grandparents near Princewick, near Beckley in Raleigh County, West Virginia. My memories of her are quite faint — she died in 1945, when I was only … Read more
“Mammaw Hite” – 1856-1941 Alice Hite was my great-grandmother, my father’s maternal grandmother, born in 1856. I knew her. To me — a young child — she was the literal definition of ancient. She died in April 1941, when I was 9 years old. Her husband, several years older than she, was William Hite, a … Read more
The thoughts on this page were originally entered in part elsewhere in the pieces that follow, but I have since realized that a little more detail might be helpful. If you’re wondering what this set of short papers is all about, it’s ancestry. Like most people, my life has flowed by on its own momentum, … Read more