I Remember Roxalana


In this photo of the making of applebutter are, my mother Edna Stone King is one the right. On the left is Virgie Wolfe and Helen Morrison. You can see Helen's house on the point in the background.

I am searching my archives for photos suitable for this page. I would appreciate any that you would like to share.
.....For me, Roxalana begins at the top of the rise of the road on Caldwell Hill and ends at the mouth of the hollow at the intersection of 12th Street and Fairlawn Avenue. In my younger years, Fairlawn Avenue was the main road to Nitro and beyond. That was before the coming of the Interstate and the end of an era.
.....Billy Roberts has sent me a short history of Roxalana written by Harriet Hudson and Glennis Reedy McClanan. Since they are a little older than I am, they remembered some things that I didn't know. So, where it is appropriate, I will add some of their information to my own recollections.
.....The first scene I remember of Roxalana is the view from our kitchen window. I would stand for hours with my nose pressed against the window. The hill that rises above Midway Drive is outside of the lemits of Roxalana. Caldwell Hill was occupied by the old Caldwell Dairy Farm. There wasn't any Bess Addition, but the Cavendrers'house stood on the hill on my side of Anderson Hollow which was across from the pastures of Caldwell Hill. My Uncle John and Cretia Stone Sayre once lived in this house.
......On this side of the hill, where Bess Addition now stands, Marks' Hollow runs up against the ridge that separatates Roxalana from Dutch Hollow. In the immediate foreground was the hill where I was born. From the top of this hill you can look out over Dunbar. This was in the 1940s.
......I remember at least four grocery stores in Roxalana. The first, as you came from Dunbar, was Reasce's Market. It was almost accross the road from the old Roxalana Elementry School. This business was first opened by Harold and Myrtle Cain as a store and service station. The Reeses purchased the business from the Cains (Hudson and McClannan). Once Buck and Betty set op a little resturant in their store, and the school children were able to go there to eat their lunch. I was im the third grade at that time.
.....The next store was Hundley's. This was a yellow block building and was the first building that I could see from my view from the kitchen window.
Just up the road, George Asbury had a store accross the creek from the road on the opposite side from Hundley's. Before Everett Hundly had his store, it was known as the M&M Grocery. This store was operated by Myrtle and Mildred Caldwell. Myrtle first opened the store in her livingroom before her father Charles built this building for her (Hudson and McClannan). Mildred was her sister.BR>
.....These are the first three generations of the Howard Caldwell Famiily:
Descendants of Howard J. Caldwell
1 Howard J. Caldwell b: July 1841 in Trumbell, OH d: August 26, 1941 in Clermont, OH Military service: 2 Ohio Cavalry CO D Census: 1880 Grant Jackson, 1900 Tucker, Wirt, 1910 Williams, Wood, 1920 Tate, OH Census: 1880 Grant Jackson, 1900 Tucker, Wirt, 1910 Williams, Wood, 1920 Tate, OH
. +Clara W. Holmes b: 1845 in Farmington, OH Father: George L. Holmes Mother: Caroline Wolcott
2 Harvey Caldwell b: 1870
2 Mary I. Caldwell b: 1870 d: 1871
2 Ida Caldwell b: 1873
2 Charles M. Caldwell b: Abt. 1875 Census: 1880, Grant Jacjson, 1920 Dunbar, 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1880, Grant Jacjson, 1920 Dunbar, 1930 Kanawha Union
... +Elizabeth b: Abt. 1876
. 3 Myrtle Caldwell b: 1900
. 3 Elizabeth Caldwell b: Abt. 1904 Individual Note: At home in 1930 Census: 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1930 Kanawha Union
. 3 Kathleen Caldwell b: 1904
. 3 Mildred B. Caldwell b: Abt. 1907 Individual Note: At home in 1930 Census: 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1930 Kanawha Union
. 3 Charles W. Caldwell b: April 12, 1908 d: November 1969 in Dunbar, WV Individual Note: At home in 1930 Census: 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1930 Kanawha Union
. 3 Homer Caldwell b: June 22, 1912 d: March 1971 in Dunbar, WV
. 3 Francis Caldwell b: Abt. 1913 d: May 16, 2003
..... +Raymond Rucker b: January 01, 1915 d: May 1984 in Dunbar, WV Individual Note: Living in the household of Howard lanham and called son. Census: 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1930 Kanawha Union
. 3 Calvin "Jim" Caldwel b: October 10, 1914 d: November 02, 1996 in Fraizers Bottom, WV
..... +Mary Pickenpaul b: February 27, 1919 d: September 28, 1993 in Fraizers Bottom, WV Father: George T. Pickenpaul Mother: Hanilah M. Powell
. 3 Alvin Caldwell b: October 10, 1914 d: March 01, 1998 in Fraizers Bottom, WV Burial: Grandview Memorial Park
..... +Ileen Morrison b: July 09, 1915 d: December 1983 in Fraizers Bottom, WV Burial: GRandview Memorial Park Father: Charles Morrison Mother: Edna
. 3 Carl Caldwell b: 1923
2 Willie A. Caldwell b: September 15, 1877 d: September 16, 1877
2 George Caldwell b: 1878
2 Myrtle C. Caldwell b: September 15, 1881 in Calvin Fork, WV
2 Frederick Caldwell b: 1888
2 Earl Everett Caldwell b: 1891
2 John Wesley Caldwell b: December 13, 1893 in Rockport, WV d: April 18, 1965 in Georgetown, OH
.....The last store in Roxalana, and the newest, was, Bess' Supermarket. I remember dad buying red rose laying mash for our hens there. The store was still there when I left in 1975, but the old folks are now lieing in the cemetery. According to Hudson and McClannah, the store is now closed.
.....In the curve of the road, a few doors down from the Gospel Tabernacle, was the home of my cousin Thelma King Johnson and her husband Red. I am gratefull for the photo below of their oldest daughter Juanita standing in front of the house when she was 17. I tried to find the email address of the person who posted the photo, but I could not.
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.....Harriet and Glennis say that there was once a one-roomed school near the Caldwell Dairy, but the school that I attended was a four roomed school that was across the road from Roberts Road. I have a separate page on this site that goes into more detail about my school days. On that page, I talk more more about this old school. As you entered the door, you entered a hall. The first door to the left was the 5th and 6th grade room, and the 5th and 4th room was across the hall. At the end of the hall were two doors. The left door was the first and 2nd grade, and the one on the right led to another 2nd grade and the third grade. Part of the third grade was in with the fourth and fifth. The princapal was Mr. Weise who stood in the hall when the children came while we twirled a small chain around his index finger. Any time the children were in the hall, he was there twirling his chain. He was a good man. The school was a cultural center for the community and the scene of parties of various sorts including PTA Meetings. I remember my sister Betty and I winning a cake walk once.
.....I think that all of us children at Roxalana walked to school. The first year I walked with my sister Imelda, The second year I walked with her friend Sharon Wolfe. Ww have been trying to find Sharon, but we do not know her married name. I always had a crush on Sharon then. After my second year I was on my own. In those early years, the road was gravel. Heading for school, I would pass Red Barret's. Then a curve in the road, Deb and Irene Wilson's house was down over the bank. Irene and Red's wife Nina were Phalens from Bancroft. Where Taylor Road met Roberts Road, Bob Barrets house stood above the road.
.....Just over the bank, below the forks of the road, Jud Woofter lived with his wife. Jud was the biggest man that I have ever seen in person. Judson Woofter was born August 27, 1876 at Alum Bridge in the Freeman's Creek Area of Lewis County. His parents were Norval W. and Rachel M. Dawson Woofter. The Woofter family immigrant was Sebastian Boston Woofter who was born 1732 in England. Jud's wife was Ida Rollins Woofter. She was born in 1881 in about the same area of Lewis County. Her parents were George T. and Ada M. Rollins.
.....Jud was so big that he couldn't buy clothes in the store. After Mrs. Woofter died, mom, and some of the ladies on the hill, made him some clothes. In his old age, Jud was stricken with a disorder that caused him to shake all over. Although he had lost a large amount of weight, when Jud died he still was very heavy. Dad was one of the pallbearers. I believe that it was in the winter time and slick. Dad said that it was very diffiult to carry the coffin. I remember Mrs. Woofter as a nice lady. At one time, Jud had a model A Ford coupe. I remember seeing him in the church parking lot. He had a difficult time getting in and out of the car because he was so tall.
.....From there, it was a long stretch to the Bowles and to Woody and Myna Wolfe's. There were a number of other houses before you reached the bridge over the creek and Roxalana Road. From the foot of our drive the bridge, it was only three tenths of a mile, but it seemed further. That is the same distance that I live off of the road today. It didn't matter if it was raining, sleeting, or snowing. It could be buring hot or it could be threating to freeze you to death. I still had to walk. The day that school let out for the summer was always the happiest day of the year for me. But, then, my mother was always waiting to put me to work.
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.....My family came to Roxalana shortly after the taking of the 1930 Census. They moved into a house on Taylor Road. There was just one child then: my sister Betty Joy.
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..... The house was not much more than a two roomed shack. My mother pasted newspapers on the wall that first winter to try to keep out the cold. There were large trees growing around the house and my mother chopped these down while my father worked at Fletcher Enamel Company. She may have been small, but she was tough. My mother was Edna Stone King and my father was Okey L. King Sr.
.....Two of the King children were born in that house. My sister Imelda June was born October 3, 1934, and I was born September 30, 1940.
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..............Ethel Wilson Martin sent me the next two photos. They were among her mother Irene's things. Thank you Ethel,
.....This photo, made in 1941, shows part of the old house, after two more rooms were added, with the front porch. The Thirties were depression years and times were tough. There wasn't any electricty and the heat was by coal. Sometime near the time I eas born, natural gas and electricty came to the hill. During those depression years, dad kept a cow and a hog. Later on, we would also have chickens. Times were hard, but the family survived. Then, Hitler invaded Poland and America went back to work supplying a beleagured Great Britian.
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.....We ate well because my father was a good provider and my mother was a talented cook and baker. But, I never prospered physically. After a near fatal bout with the whooping caugh, I was always skin and bones. During my first year in school, I nearly died again with scarlet fever. I didn't get to to school enough that year so I was held back in the first grade. That might have been better, but it was a blow to a small child because of the taunting of the other students. That made many of them think that I was a dumb kid.
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.....When I was young, we often had family visitors. When young cousins would come from the country looking for work, their parents would often tell them, "Just look up Oak and Edna, they will help you." Just as in the Waltons, we would all say goodnight. I especially remember my Uncle Vernon's deep voice answering me, "Good Night Okey Lester." As I remember, it is hard to keep the tears out of my eyes. Uncle Vernonand his whole family died way too young.
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.....This is another photo from 1941. Most of these photos are from that time. My oldest sister Betty is on the left. She was not yet 13. My mother was 31. My sister Imelda is going on 7. You can see my diapers hanging on the line. Our trusty Model T Ford served us for many years. World War II had yet to break out turning American lives upside down. Now, we were a very plain family, but we were a family centered in love even if we were not very well versed in the things of the world. Hard work was the glue that held the community together, and Mom and Dad were pretty much the center of the universe. A vacation was something foreign. I think that my parents looked at work as their recreation.
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....................This a photo of Bill and Syble Sayre Hill and (I think) Reube Sayre and his wife Triva Smith Sayre. The photo shows our back porch.
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.....This photo is of of my cousin Juanita Johnson, but it is also a photo of the house next door. The Garnes house was a rental house. During the war, the VanNetters lived there. Then, later, the Ralph Steele family lived there.
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.....This is little Jimmy Steele in the yard behind our house standing in my old wagon.
.....In my teenage years, the Stumps and then the Leggs made their home there. It was a cold and windy place on top of that hill. Our house was in the lea of the hill, and was sheltered.
.....Beyond the Garnes house, was the house of Bill and Virgie Wolfe. Virgie helped the doctor at my birth. The Charlie Morrison house stood on a knoll on the other side of the Wolfe house. Charlie died while I was in the army on a Holloween. He collapsed with a heart attack and trick-or-treaters found him in the yard. The Morrisons came from Moundsville.
.....Down over the hill, was Scoach and Grace Wolfe's home. Grace was a Burford. When I was young, Grace's mother, Maw Maw Burford, lived with them. She was a character. I remember the night that Granny Burford fell down the basement stairs and was killed. That was bad.
.....Below the road, there was the Hissoms, the Reedys, the Rippatoes, the Daughterys, the Reeds and, last of all. he Sherm Martin Family. Mrs. Hission's first name wss Dewey and she was a Herndon before she married.
.....To the left of our house was the Red Barrett House. Eed (Raymond), Nina, Jo Ann, Snookie (Ramona), and Buster lived there when I was young. Beyond this house, below the curve in the road, was the Deb Wilson house. Deb, Irene, Lois, and Ethel lived here. Deb played the banjo and called at square dances. I could here Deb play the banjo from our house. If I remember correctly Deb died around 1955.

.....Next to the family, the church was the center of activity. Although my father did not attend church, my mother, my sisters, and myself were faithful to the Roxalana E.U.B. Church. As the old folks say, "We went everytime the door opened." When I was small, the building was just a basement. During alter calls, I would go to the alter and try to do what the older folks did.
.....Thomas Hudson was the Sunday School Superintendent then. He had a little bell that he would ring out our years with when we would give our birthday offering. I think he got a kick out of doing that. Woody Wolfe was often my sunday school teacher. At this time, Woody is in his 90's. For a number years, Woody and Myna would attend my church once a year. He always testified about having me in his sunday school class. What I am today I owe a good deal to the folks in my home church. Although I am an International Pentecostal Holiness minister, I had a good foundation laid by the E.U.B. Church. I hope to write a separate page about our church that will appear on this website.

.....This photo was made in February 1957. This 1954 pontiac was the last car my father owned. This was near the time that Bill Hill died of cancer. It was also about this time that Red Barret's house burned to the ground about three o'clock in the motning.
......In about January 1959 Dad, and everyone else that worked at Fletcher Enamel Company lost their jobs. When Dad reached his 60th birthday, he was still out of work. Then, in July of that year, he was hired by the Girl Scouts and we moved to Caldwell in Greenbrier County. That was the end of dad's era in Roxalana. He died in Greenbrier County of cancer.

This photo made in the earl spring os 1964 shows part of the Roxalana view. Dad had died and mom and I had moved back home. She would remarry in July to Willard Woodreff, and I would marry Caro;yn Grimes in November. We are still married.
......After I married, I lived in the King place until 1972, but it was never the same. Roxalana was growing fast. A power line ruined our property. Now, Roxalana is wall to wall with houses. It is no longer home, but I still have memories. I hope to add more photos to this page as I find them. God Bless!
Late Summer and early Fall at the King Home
.....One of our neighobors on the hill at Roxalana, Billy Roberts, sent the next two photos to me and gave permission to use them. Thank you Billy.

The Original Possom Hunters Band
.....From left to right we have Serman Martin, Deb Wilson, Billy Roberts, and George Phillips. This is the first photo that I have seen of Sherm and Deb.
Sherman is the son of George W. and Lilly Ann Jordan Martin. Sherman was born May 21, 1901 and passed away October 18, 1988.
.....Next is Deb Wilson. I seem to remember him as a quiet man, but that might just be my perception. His daughter Ethel is just a little younger than I am and we often walked home together after getting off of the school bus. I think he passed away sometime about 1956 because he had just purchased a new 1955 chevolet. After he passed, whis wife Ethel learned to drive.
.....Billy Roberts is next. I had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone a few minutes ago. His family lived near the highest point of our hill on what we called Robert's Hill. His father Bill was into local politics and was responsable for many of the improvements in Roxalana.
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...............................This Bill Roberts Sr.
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.....This is Lula Roberts at the Roberts home down in Dunbar. This are has changed a good deal since this photo was made. During the 1970's, there was an urban renewal project that changed the face of downdown Dunbar. I am not certain if it was very successfull.
.....The fourth member is George Phillips. I didn't know George, but I believe that Billy said that he was his brother-in-law.
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.....This a later group of Possom Hunters. I have heard of Warren Casto, but, I didn't know him. Billy says that he was a great player. I goofed here. This is not Charlie Bill Hudson. This is another Charlie Bill. I did know Charlie Bill Hudson. He lived around the hill from us when I was growing up, and was also our Mason County neighbor. We both attended the Mt. Union Methodist Church. As I mentioned earlier, his father, Tom, was the sunday school superintendent of the Roxalana E.U.B. Church. His mother was a fine woman and features in a story I would like to write. Her name was Mary Charles Hudson. Her parents. Harry and Harriet Charles came from England and he worked in the coal mines at Mahon on Paint Creek.
.....This is the Harry Charles Family:
Descendants of Harry Charles
1 Harry Charles b: Abt. 1862 in Bloxham, Oxon,m, England
. +Harriett b: 1871 in England
2 Mary Charles b: Abt. 1890 in OH
... +Thomas Hudson b: July 24, 1888 d: February 1963 in Dunbar, WV Father: James Robert Hudson Mother: Isabelle Nelson Census: 1930 Kanawha Union Census: 1930 Kanawha Union
. 3 Carson Hudson b: July 26, 1914 d: November 1981 in Dunbar, WV
. 3 Verl Hudson b: March 04, 1917 d: January 1978
. 3 Harriett Hudson b: Abt. 1923
. 3 Harry Robert Hudson b: Abt. 1925
..... +Wanda Cain b: 1929 in Grantsville d: January 04, 2009 Burial: Granview memorial Park Father: Lee Lloyd Cain Mother: Nellie
. 3 Charles Hudson b: October 10, 1929 d: November 25, 1998
2 George Charles b: December 27, 1894 in OH d: July 01, 1967 in Toledo
2 Bell Charles b: 1897
2 Thomas Charles b: 1899
2 Jennie Charles b: 1902
2 Eva Charles b: 1907
2 Andrew Charles b: January 11, 1910 d: December 1978 in Warren, OH
.....Talking with Billy helped me to know what else I wanted to include on this page. I want to talk about Roberts hill. What I call Robert's Hill is the promontory tht rises steeply beuond the Robert's house.
.....As far as I know, this is the highest point on this side of the river for miles. As we climb the path behind the house and reach the top, you find that the top is wide enough for a small cornfield or garden. On the far end of the hill, toward Dunbar, you will find a tremendous view. I wish that I had had a camara then. I would come here and sit and watch the riverboats go up and down the Kanawha river. You can see fairly far down river. My sister lived eight miles away down river at Nitro on the riverbank. If there was a riverboat passing going up stream as we were leaving my sisters to go back home, when I arrived home I would rush to the top of Robert's Hill in hopes of watching the boat pass by. I was seldom disappointed.
.....The riverboat would churn its way up river with its tow of barges and disappear behind Resivoir Hill. Then, it would emerge from behind the hill and I could watch it through Low Gsp. It dosn't sound like much, but that was a pleasure to me.
.....From the other side of the hill toward the Southeast, you can see the smokestacks of Union Carbide. If I remember correctly, you can also see a small portion of 7th Avenue in North Charleston.
.....After school I would grab my mossberg 12 guage shotgun, call my dog Pokey, and head for Robert's hill. It wasn't often that I reached the top before she was singing on the trail. Sometimes my friend Jack Zimmerman would join me. When snow was on the ground, I would pull my long sled up the ridge, past Robert's house, and up the hill. I would fly down the path on the other side. This path led around the hill to the head of Mark's Hollow. Many of the short evenings during rabbit season were spent in this neighborhood. In those days, there were no houses at all. Sadly, that is now not the case. Where Pokey once sang her heart out on the trail, now there are houses and yards. Now like Pokey, those open spaces only live in my memory. Once, when I was walking back home with my unloaded shotgun, a woman hollered out of her door and asked, "Is that gun real." I assured her that it was. I don't think that she was to happy that a fifteen-year-old boy was walking around with a real gun. I wonder what would happen now"
The Old Time Neighborhood Halloween