The aerial photo above, taken in 1985, is of the Earl and Golda Smith farm on Route 3, Hinton Road, White Oak Mountain, Raleigh County, W.Va. The property was originally owned by Mrs. Smith's parents, Leonard and Stella Vest.
ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA MEMORIES
This site has photographs and genealogical information about southern West Virginia families including the Vest family of White Oak Mountain, Smith family of Abraham in Richmond District, the Gadd and Cochran families and the Biars family of Ohio and West Virginia.
I would love to hear from you. Please
e-mail me or sign the public guest book:
WHO AM I?
Unidentified photos from West Virginia and Kentucky albums. Newest photos:
Is this Iva Richmond? Iva is the daughter of Wriston Richmond and wife Callie Vest Richmond of White Oak Mountain, W.Va. Callie, daughter of Columbus and Malinda Vest, died 08 Dec 1935. The photo was taken in 1936. Iva doesn’t have any pictures of herself as a child. She would like to know if she is the little girl in the photo.
Submitted by David: Photos from the estate of William Ruben Hager of Kentucky. (Updated 04 Nov 2009)
Submitted by Russell: Does anyone know the people in this Raleigh County, W.Va., family group picture? The only one identified is Catherine Plumley, born 16 March 1948, a daughter of George Washington and Catherine Bennett Plumley. She died 28 Feb1922. Catherine married Jackson Bennett, 06 July 1865; William Ballard Smith, 05 April 1906; and John Rufus Bennett, 04 March 1908, all in Raleigh County. (Updated 24 Sept 2009.)
Submitted by Robert: Unidentified photographs from the album of Estaline Redden (1877-1948) of Raleigh County, W.Va., daughter of Michael Redden and Marion Plumley. She was the wife of Warner Redden (1873 in Raleigh Co./1952, Summers County), son of Harrison Redden and Mary Polly Kidwell. Go to the Unidentified Photos page. (Updated 25 Sep 2009.)
WHAT'S NEW
New on the Vest/Cochran page -- Courtesy of Dale M.: photos of Elizabeth Vest Plumley and Albert P. Vest, children of Jackson Vest and wife Nancy Lilly. (Updated 10 Oct 2009)
New in Shoebox -- "The Bent Mountain Murder" by George B. Martin. Photos of Daniels Elementary students from Grades 5-6, 1946-67; Grades 3-6,1950-51; Grades 5-6, 1951-52; and Grades 6-7, 53-54. (Thank you, Glen.) Plus articles and information about Raleigh County teacher Bess Kate Snyder. (Updated 10 Oct 2009.)
New on the West Virginia Talk page -- Iron-horse Irish. (Updated 26 Sept 2009.)
New on the Gadd page -- Recently West Virginia Memories acquired photos and information collected during years of research by Gadd historians John Gadd and Rhonda Shoemaker. Thank you, John and Rhonda! I'll be posting new photos over the next few weeks. (Updated 06 Sept 2009) On the main Gadd page: two newsclips about Andrew Powhatan Gadd and the Civil War. Gadd page 2: The Death of George W. Gadd. Gadd page 3: A new separate page with information on William Harrison Gadd, son of Andrew and Delilah. (Updated 23 July 2009.)
New on the Smith/Biars page -- New information and photos of John Phillip A. Biars and his family. Added obituary of Glenville Smith and an article, Lucinda Smith honored. New picture of Smith children. Everett, Carl and Ernest Smith and their nephew and niece James and Dorothy Fox. (Updated 03 Sept 2009.)
Smith Cemetery -- The Smith Cemetery is accessed through gated private property located on White Oak Mountain Road off Route 3, Hinton Road, in Raleigh County, W.Va., near the Summers County line. The cemetery itself is on land formerly owned by Earl and Golda Smith. Interments are Earl George Smith and wife Golda Mae Vest, their sons Billy Lee Smith (08 Mar 1936/10 Jun 1949) and Bobby Earl Smith (biography and pictures of Billy and Bobby Smith in the Raleigh County section of the West Virginia GenWeb Archives online), Mrs. Smith’s parents Leonard Haliburton Vest and Emma Stella Gadd, and Mrs. Vest’s sister Annie Gadd Turner. Sarah Ann Frances Gadd married James William Hatcher and George W. Turner. See the pages on this site for more information about the Smith, Gadd and Vest families.
History project
Phyllis Campbell Whitley is seeking information about old Summers County, W.Va., barns built before 1950. Of specific interest is a site near Indian Mills with three pre Civil War barns. The present owners believe the original owners were named Via. Here are links to Mrs. Whitley's e-mail address and an article about the project, Barns of Summers County, Hinton News, 16 June 2009.
Kentucky In-Laws
- SNAPS -- Photos collected by Dorothy Carroll of Ashland, Kentucky. What's new: photo of the DeBord family. (Updated June 26, 2009)
Giving credit where credit is due
If you've shared a photo and I haven't given you credit, e-mail me. If you use photos from West Virginia Memories, please include this site address: http://wva.homestead.com I want more cousins to find their way here. And if you have photos or information to share or if you just want to say hello, e-mail me. Corrections are welcomed.
