WEST VIRGINIA COMMONPLACE BOOK

It happens. There are days like this. Days when you just do not really have anything to write about. And you feel bad, because you know there are things that need to be addressed. But your heart just isn't in it. Today is such a day.

It is a dull, gray overcast day this morning. I had my breakfast at a little after 5 AM, have done some reading, a little book put together by Jim Comstock, past editor and owner of the WV Hillbilly newspaper. It is called "West Virginia Commonplace Book." And he didn't do a bunch of writing in it. It is mainly composed of hundreds of news articles reflecting on the early days, and even some more modern, of West Virginia people and places.

But what is most interesting is the 1,000 Questions feature. On every page there are five or six questions pertaining to people, places and events unique to West Virginia history. I always thought I had a pretty good grounding in the subject, but I find that I can usually only answer one or two per page, and have to look at the answers he gives at the end of each set of questions. Here's a sample from page 158--

496. Your grandparents could have attended what college in St. Albans that you can't?

497. Where in West Virginia is nickel plate made from matte, an ore from which all impurities, except sulphur, have been removed, and which is brought into this state from mines in Ontario, Canada?

498. The county seat of Cabell County was moved to Huntington in 1887 from what town?

499. What West Virginia woman almost got dunked for being a "common scold?"

500. There must have been some good reason for pouring a barrel of James River water into the Ohio River at Huntington in 1873. What was the reason?

Easy, huh? I knew three of them right off. I had heard of the incident in #499, but did not know her name. And had no idea of the answer to # 496.

The answers--

496. Shelton College
497. At the International Nickel Company in Huntington.
498. Barboursville
499. Anne Royall
500. Celebration of the completion of the C & O Railroad to the Ohio River.

Interesting little tidbit from page 206--HOMECOMING-Back in the early 1950's a man was arrested for being drunk on the courthouse lawn in Huntington. Arraigned before a local judge, he threw himself on the mercy of the court, explaining that he had run into some friends who he had not seen for years and had been celebrating with them. Sounded good, but further investigation proved that he hadn't seen his friends because he had just finished serving a term of several years in the State Penitentiary at Moundsville.

OK, the questions above really aren't quite fair to some. But everyone knows our famous presidents, right? So here's some presidential trivia questions related to the Mountain State--

394. This president owned more of West Virginia than Jay Rockefeller and the federal government combined.

395. This president sat down on a rock at Harper's Ferry and said that what he saw from where he sat was worth a trip across the ocean.

396. This president took his last train ride through West Virginia.

397. This president's John Henry snipped West Virginia's umbilical cord.

398. This president said "I will" in West Virginia.

399. This president allegedly left a wood's colt in Lewis County.

400. This president who really gave a dam for West Virginia, dedicated it-the Summersville Dam.

401. This president, traveling over the Midland Trail, reportedly stopped to attend a funeral in Ansted, because his name was the same as the woman's being buried there.

402. This president, without the fanfare which would go with a present president's presence, did his fishing in the waters near Weston.

403. This president, writing the chronicles of winning the west, started with West Virginia.


And while you think about those, here is a question that many know the answer to, particularly if they really studied much West Virginia and colonial history--

404. In West Virginia there is a marker which indicates the line which George III drew, beyond which no settler could settle. Where would you find this marker?

Of course the answer is in in Mineral County, near the crest of the Allegheny Front. And the more obvious response from the settlers was a big "Yeah, right" and they kept coming, sometimes going the route of over to the New River and down it to the Kanawha Valley, or continuing westward into Kentucky through what is now the southern coal fields or through the area which is around what is now Grundy, VA.

Here's the presidential answers--

394. George Washington
395. Thomas Jefferson
396. Dwight Eisenhower
397. Abraham Lincoln
398. James Madison
399. William McKinley
400. Lyndon Johnson
401. Andrew Jackson
402. Grover Cleveland
403. Theodore Roosevelt

And we all have heard of the silver tongued orator, William Jennings Bryan. He came to West Virginia one time to visit the graves of his grandparents. Were did he do this?

The graves are located at Ona, Cabell County, WV.

Larkin McDowell applied to secure a post office at the place he lived in Summers County, WV. As attestation at the end of his letter of application, he made the statement, "Now this is true." Sure enough, his application was approved--to open a post office at True, WV.

I have to hand it to Comstock, he has a neat little book. I have enjoyed it tremendously. If you want to have a looksee, you might find it in any West Virginia Public Library. I chased my copy down at the Barboursville Library and will be returning it in a few days.