Winding Gulf, Alderson, and South Charleston

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

Frederick Lee Farley

“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

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

Looking Back – An Introduction

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