A Piece of Family History

Our trip back to WV went smooth. Like I said eariler I spent a lot of my time working. I was fortunate to work so much, it kept my mind off the present reality that Pop was no longer around. I spent the majority of my time with Pop when we went to WV. We would go fishing, hunting, eating, driving, see old friends, and all kinds of stuff. So to go home and have him not there was a bit overwhelming.

I guess my job now is to be the teller of the family story. Pop was interested but not that much, my great aunt Artie was much more interested.

Our family history tells the story of three brothers traveling from Scotland to Viriginia in 1603. They settled there for about a hundred years then packed up and moved to Ablemarle County, then to Harlan County then finally to Upshur County in WV. First they came to Sago, then mosied on over to Ten Mile. There they built this house:

It was the family homeplace for a good number of generations, till the Allen Creek Coal Company found coal underneath it. The company bought up the community. Artie stayed as long as she could, but the blasts from the mining shattered the windows.

The homeplace