|
By Bill Umstead 1969
Research by Norma Knotts Shaffer MOMENTS IN TIME
The year was 1908. It was the Fourth of July and
Grantsville
was having a big celebration - circus, games, public speaking, and
people
came from far and near. This was before the automobile had made
an
appearance in this section and the only way to travel was to walk,
ride
horseback, hack, buggy or a road wagon.
I lived at Mt. Zion, and Father hitched the horses to the wagon and
we took off for the county seat town. This distance is only six
miles
but it took the best of two hours to travel the road down Phillips
Run.
The only houses along the road that I recall from Mt. Zion to
Grantsville
were the house where John Poling owns now, the Barr house at the foot
of
the hill, the Gerome Frame house, the Oscar Hathaway house, and the
David
Barnes house. A Mr. Cunningham, Dowd Stump and Jeff Kelley also
lived
along the way. Jeff, at that time, lived down by the road.
The Mr. Cunningham of whom I speak was the father of Ford and Warren.
The road followed the creek in many places, leaving the creek just
below
where Bessie Sturm now lives, meandering around above the McCartney
home
and coming off at Dowd Stump's home.
There was no bridge across
the
Little Kanawha river at Grantsville, so we had to ford the stream at
the
mouth of Phillips Run. The bottom land where the football field
is,
was a cornfield, and the only house that I can recall along there any
place
was an old log house. A road leading up the river to Russett
formed
an intersection along there some place, and most of the hillside was
in
woods. Of course I do not remember everything as I was only a
small
boy.
After having spent most of the day taking in the celebration, we
started
for home along in mid afternoon. As we traveled up Phillips Run,
a storm approached. We did not stop at any house. When we
were
some distance from the nearest house, the storm struck, first a very
high
wind, then rain and hail.
The only protection we had was to get
out
and under the wagon. After the storm, as we continued on up the
creek,
we could see leaves, twigs and even small parts of brush strewn all
over
the road, having been torn off the trees by the hail stones.
Gardens
were very nearly destroyed, and there was a lot of damage to crops.
A Later Fourth
Many people will recall Wheeler Chenoweth, who was a school
teacher,
and I believe, county superintendent of schools. I know he was a
candidate for this office several times, running on the Republican
ticket.
Wheeler lived at Arnoldsburg at the time of this incident of which
I
write. This was some years later than 1908, and automobiles had
made
an appearance in Calhoun county. The late Doctor Riddle lived at
Mt. Zion. He had a Ford. I had driven the car many times
when
Wheeler was with us. Mr. Chenoweth's wife, Node, was a sister of
Dr. Riddle's wife. Wheeler purchased a Ford car and he asked me
to
come over to Arnoldsburg and help him learn to drive.
It so happened that Grantsville was having another Fourth of July
celebration.
There were still no hard roads in that section and probably none in
the
county, but during the summer months we could drive most all the main
highways,
even though the mud holes were frequent, and often deep.
Mr. Chenoweth was a very dressy man and on this occasion wore a
light
palm beach suit with a large panama straw hat, as we took off for
Grantsville
for the Fourth of July celebration. As we returned that evening,
we took the road leading down Road Run and up Sycamore, coming into
the
present hard road at the Watt Everson place. As we approached
the
steep bank opposite the old Proudfoot home, Wheeler driving, we ran
into
a ditch.
He said I had better take the wheel and he would get out and
push.
I took over and Mr. Chenoweth got behind the car. When I pushed
the
clutch in and gave the car the gas, the wheels spun and the mud caught
Wheeler from his shoes to the top of his head.
He let out a yell and I stopped, looked around, and there he was,
standing
there with that white suit and white hat, covered with mud.
Node,
his wife, was screaming with laughter.
Displaying the Flag
While writing this article about the Fourth of July celebrations
held
in Grantsville years ago, I wondered why we do not celebrate today as
we
did years ago. I recall when flags were displayed on most all
homes,
and even on horses in early days, and later cars would be covered with
flags. Maybe if we displayed the flag more we might prove to the
brave men and women who followed it at Valley Forge, France, the South
Pacific, and all parts of the world, did not do so in vain. | 
