THE GENTLEMAN IN THE CROWD
By Eva Smith
Leonard Haliburton Vest was born on Nov. 27, 1880, a son of Columbus Washington Vest and wife Malinda Jane Cochran of White Oak Mountain, W.Va. He had three brothers, Luther Flemon Vest (1883-1931), Sanford Walter Vest (1890-1961) and Ethiel Barah Vest (1897-1995) and a sister, Callie Matilda Vest Richmond (1887-1935).
Leonard and Emma Stella Gadd were married on June 11, 1907, in Hinton, Summers County, W.Va., by the Rev. W. W. McMillian. Witnesses were L.F. Vest (probably his brother Luther) and Jack Cochran. Stella was born on May 23, 1879, a daughter of Powell Wade Gadd and wife Emma Melissa Martin.
An article in a Beckley, W.Va. newspaper, The Raleigh Herald, reprinted an item from The Summers Republican: "L.H. Vest, of Raleigh county, and Miss Stella Farmer of Summers county were happily married at the Presley boarding house of Bluff street, Tuesday evening at 5 o'clock. They will make their future home at Terry, in Raleigh county." The marriage record says Leonard was widowed and Stella divorced.
In her 20s, Stella was widowed when her first husband James Anderson Elmer Via, who worked in timber, was killed on Nov. 21, 1902 by a falling tree. Anderson and Stella had a son, Dewey Abshire Anderson Via, who was an infant when his father died. Her second husband, Charles Odey Farmer, was abusive and held her captive in Virginia. Stella managed to escape with Dewey and make it back to her family in West Virginia.
Leonard's first wife, Clara Alice Plumley, died a few months after giving birth to their son Claude "Claudie" Raymond Vest on Nov. 21, 1901. Clara was born on June 13, 1884, a daughter of Isaac Plumley and wife Mary Vest. Her place of burial is unknown.
So, Leonard and Stella both brought sons to the marriage – Dewey Via, 5, and Claude Vest, 6. Together Leonard and Stella had eight children: Dewey (1902-1936) and Claude (1901-1961) and six daughters born to them, Verna Veatrice (1908-1980), Golda Mae (1911-1991), Sylvia Gladys (1913-1921), Nina Arabell (1916-2003), Josephine (1920-1921) and Ola Pearl (1922-1986). (A note on Ola's name probably written by Nina: "Named Ola at birth - called Flossie. Nina sent "Pearl" in to Vital (Statistics?) age of 9.")
Sylvia, 8, and Josephine, 1, died at home within a few hours of each other of diphtheria. Stella's family Bible records the date as Sept. 2, 1921, for both girls. However, their sister Nina remembered Sylvia dying at 9 p.m. and the Josephine dying at 9 a.m. the next morning. Stella's son Dewey, 34, died on Sept. 12, 1936. He had health problems from birth.
I lived next door to my grandparents, Leonard and Stella. His parents, Columbus and Malinda Jane, had divided up their land on White Oak Mountain in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Leonard and Stella built "the yellow house" on his piece of property, probably in the late 1920s. Leonard and Stella later sold the house and land to my parents, Earl George Smith and wife Golda Mae Vest, in the 1940s with the provision that the older couple could build on the land and have a life interest. Grandpa and Grandma Vest lived in a little house next to ours.
I remember Grandpa Leonard as a kind, intelligent man. He listened to news on the radio with interest and was the family advisor on who the best political candidates were. He was very progressive and wanted his daughters to be educated so they could "take care of themselves." I was told that he loved to hunt in his younger days. Grandpa love baseball and would take his grandson Harold Leonard Hinte on the train to games in Cincinnati.
His family was said to have Indian blood and that accounted for his propensity for hunting rather than farming. Grandpa sure looked like he was part Indian, with his coarse black hair and high cheekbones.
I loved to run "out the path" and see my grandfather. He would give me peppermint candy sticks. I would give him a kiss on the cheek and his beard would be scratchy. Grandpa was shaky in his old age and Grandma Stella would have to shave him so he usually had stubble.
Leonard and Stella's daughter Nina Vest (Bennett) Worley wrote in a March 1992 letter:
"Daddy (Leonard Vest) never did join a church. But he was saved. He was out in the field up somewhere near the grave yard & barn on the hill above the house (on White Oak Mountain)…he was meditating and then he started praying - a voice spoke to him and asked him what he wanted - he said good health and a long life. (Mother told me this.) I figure he was about 50...When the old men came to the casket when he was demised - I heard one say to another, 'He was always the gentleman of the crowd.' Knowing my daddy I knew it was true. Grandmother & daddy, Malinda and Lum, for short, were never baptised. Grandmother (Malinda) told (her son) Uncle Sanford (Vest), she wasn't good enough to join a church. But they sat behind the cook stove and read the Bible to each other. I'm sure they were saved."
Grandpa died of a heart attack in his home on March 20, 1960, in his White Oak Mountain home. The wake was held in the Vest home. Grandpa had said he didn't want people coming to the funeral parlor and eating cookies on his casket. He was buried in Smith Cemetery on our property. It was winter and the men digging the grave used dynamite to loosen the frozen soil. A bulldozer was brought in to clear a path up the hill.
Grandma Stella died on Jan. 24, 1965, in her daughter Golda's home, surrounded by family. She was buried in Smith Cemetery next to Grandpa. Note: because of an error by whoever produced the tombstone, they are buried exactly opposite what it says on the monument.
By Eva Smith
Leonard Haliburton Vest was born on Nov. 27, 1880, a son of Columbus Washington Vest and wife Malinda Jane Cochran of White Oak Mountain, W.Va. He had three brothers, Luther Flemon Vest (1883-1931), Sanford Walter Vest (1890-1961) and Ethiel Barah Vest (1897-1995) and a sister, Callie Matilda Vest Richmond (1887-1935).
Leonard and Emma Stella Gadd were married on June 11, 1907, in Hinton, Summers County, W.Va., by the Rev. W. W. McMillian. Witnesses were L.F. Vest (probably his brother Luther) and Jack Cochran. Stella was born on May 23, 1879, a daughter of Powell Wade Gadd and wife Emma Melissa Martin.
An article in a Beckley, W.Va. newspaper, The Raleigh Herald, reprinted an item from The Summers Republican: "L.H. Vest, of Raleigh county, and Miss Stella Farmer of Summers county were happily married at the Presley boarding house of Bluff street, Tuesday evening at 5 o'clock. They will make their future home at Terry, in Raleigh county." The marriage record says Leonard was widowed and Stella divorced.
In her 20s, Stella was widowed when her first husband James Anderson Elmer Via, who worked in timber, was killed on Nov. 21, 1902 by a falling tree. Anderson and Stella had a son, Dewey Abshire Anderson Via, who was an infant when his father died. Her second husband, Charles Odey Farmer, was abusive and held her captive in Virginia. Stella managed to escape with Dewey and make it back to her family in West Virginia.
Leonard's first wife, Clara Alice Plumley, died a few months after giving birth to their son Claude "Claudie" Raymond Vest on Nov. 21, 1901. Clara was born on June 13, 1884, a daughter of Isaac Plumley and wife Mary Vest. Her place of burial is unknown.
So, Leonard and Stella both brought sons to the marriage – Dewey Via, 5, and Claude Vest, 6. Together Leonard and Stella had eight children: Dewey (1902-1936) and Claude (1901-1961) and six daughters born to them, Verna Veatrice (1908-1980), Golda Mae (1911-1991), Sylvia Gladys (1913-1921), Nina Arabell (1916-2003), Josephine (1920-1921) and Ola Pearl (1922-1986). (A note on Ola's name probably written by Nina: "Named Ola at birth - called Flossie. Nina sent "Pearl" in to Vital (Statistics?) age of 9.")
Sylvia, 8, and Josephine, 1, died at home within a few hours of each other of diphtheria. Stella's family Bible records the date as Sept. 2, 1921, for both girls. However, their sister Nina remembered Sylvia dying at 9 p.m. and the Josephine dying at 9 a.m. the next morning. Stella's son Dewey, 34, died on Sept. 12, 1936. He had health problems from birth.
I lived next door to my grandparents, Leonard and Stella. His parents, Columbus and Malinda Jane, had divided up their land on White Oak Mountain in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Leonard and Stella built "the yellow house" on his piece of property, probably in the late 1920s. Leonard and Stella later sold the house and land to my parents, Earl George Smith and wife Golda Mae Vest, in the 1940s with the provision that the older couple could build on the land and have a life interest. Grandpa and Grandma Vest lived in a little house next to ours.
I remember Grandpa Leonard as a kind, intelligent man. He listened to news on the radio with interest and was the family advisor on who the best political candidates were. He was very progressive and wanted his daughters to be educated so they could "take care of themselves." I was told that he loved to hunt in his younger days. Grandpa love baseball and would take his grandson Harold Leonard Hinte on the train to games in Cincinnati.
His family was said to have Indian blood and that accounted for his propensity for hunting rather than farming. Grandpa sure looked like he was part Indian, with his coarse black hair and high cheekbones.
I loved to run "out the path" and see my grandfather. He would give me peppermint candy sticks. I would give him a kiss on the cheek and his beard would be scratchy. Grandpa was shaky in his old age and Grandma Stella would have to shave him so he usually had stubble.
Leonard and Stella's daughter Nina Vest (Bennett) Worley wrote in a March 1992 letter:
"Daddy (Leonard Vest) never did join a church. But he was saved. He was out in the field up somewhere near the grave yard & barn on the hill above the house (on White Oak Mountain)…he was meditating and then he started praying - a voice spoke to him and asked him what he wanted - he said good health and a long life. (Mother told me this.) I figure he was about 50...When the old men came to the casket when he was demised - I heard one say to another, 'He was always the gentleman of the crowd.' Knowing my daddy I knew it was true. Grandmother & daddy, Malinda and Lum, for short, were never baptised. Grandmother (Malinda) told (her son) Uncle Sanford (Vest), she wasn't good enough to join a church. But they sat behind the cook stove and read the Bible to each other. I'm sure they were saved."
Grandpa died of a heart attack in his home on March 20, 1960, in his White Oak Mountain home. The wake was held in the Vest home. Grandpa had said he didn't want people coming to the funeral parlor and eating cookies on his casket. He was buried in Smith Cemetery on our property. It was winter and the men digging the grave used dynamite to loosen the frozen soil. A bulldozer was brought in to clear a path up the hill.
Grandma Stella died on Jan. 24, 1965, in her daughter Golda's home, surrounded by family. She was buried in Smith Cemetery next to Grandpa. Note: because of an error by whoever produced the tombstone, they are buried exactly opposite what it says on the monument.
THE GENTLEMAN IN THE CROWD
By Eva Smith
Leonard Haliburton Vest was born on Nov. 27, 1880, a son of Columbus Washington Vest and wife Malinda Jane Cochran of White Oak Mountain, W.Va. He had three brothers, Luther Flemon Vest (1883-1931), Sanford Walter Vest (1890-1961) and Ethiel Barah Vest (1897-1995) and a sister, Callie Matilda Vest Richmond (1887-1935).
Leonard and Emma Stella Gadd were married on June 11, 1907, in Hinton, Summers County, W.Va., by the Rev. W. W. McMillian. Witnesses were L.F. Vest (probably his brother Luther) and Jack Cochran. Stella was born on May 23, 1879, a daughter of Powell Wade Gadd and wife Emma Melissa Martin.
An article in a Beckley, W.Va. newspaper, The Raleigh Herald, reprinted an item from The Summers Republican: "L.H. Vest, of Raleigh county, and Miss Stella Farmer of Summers county were happily married at the Presley boarding house of Bluff street, Tuesday evening at 5 o'clock. They will make their future home at Terry, in Raleigh county." The marriage record says Leonard was widowed and Stella divorced.
In her 20s, Stella was widowed when her first husband James Anderson Elmer Via, who worked in timber, was killed on Nov. 21, 1902 by a falling tree. Anderson and Stella had a son, Dewey Abshire Anderson Via, who was an infant when his father died. Her second husband, Charles Odey Farmer, was abusive and held her captive in Virginia. Stella managed to escape with Dewey and make it back to her family in West Virginia.
Leonard's first wife, Clara Alice Plumley, died a few months after giving birth to their son Claude "Claudie" Raymond Vest on Nov. 21, 1901. Clara was born on June 13, 1884, a daughter of Isaac Plumley and wife Mary Vest. Her place of burial is unknown.
So, Leonard and Stella both brought sons to the marriage – Dewey Via, 5, and Claude Vest, 6. Together Leonard and Stella had eight children: Dewey (1902-1936) and Claude (1901-1961) and six daughters born to them, Verna Veatrice (1908-1980), Golda Mae (1911-1991), Sylvia Gladys (1913-1921), Nina Arabell (1916-2003), Josephine (1920-1921) and Ola Pearl (1922-1986). (A note on Ola's name probably written by Nina: "Named Ola at birth - called Flossie. Nina sent "Pearl" in to Vital (Statistics?) age of 9.")
Sylvia, 8, and Josephine, 1, died at home within a few hours of each other of diphtheria. Stella's family Bible records the date as Sept. 2, 1921, for both girls. However, their sister Nina remembered Sylvia dying at 9 p.m. and the Josephine dying at 9 a.m. the next morning. Stella's son Dewey, 34, died on Sept. 12, 1936. He had health problems from birth.
I lived next door to my grandparents, Leonard and Stella. His parents, Columbus and Malinda Jane, had divided up their land on White Oak Mountain in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Leonard and Stella built "the yellow house" on his piece of property, probably in the late 1920s. Leonard and Stella later sold the house and land to my parents, Earl George Smith and wife Golda Mae Vest, in the 1940s with the provision that the older couple could build on the land and have a life interest. Grandpa and Grandma Vest lived in a little house next to ours.
I remember Grandpa Leonard as a kind, intelligent man. He listened to news on the radio with interest and was the family advisor on who the best political candidates were. He was very progressive and wanted his daughters to be educated so they could "take care of themselves." I was told that he loved to hunt in his younger days. Grandpa love baseball and would take his grandson Harold Leonard Hinte on the train to games in Cincinnati.
His family was said to have Indian blood and that accounted for his propensity for hunting rather than farming. Grandpa sure looked like he was part Indian, with his coarse black hair and high cheekbones.
I loved to run "out the path" and see my grandfather. He would give me peppermint candy sticks. I would give him a kiss on the cheek and his beard would be scratchy. Grandpa was shaky in his old age and Grandma Stella would have to shave him so he usually had stubble.
Leonard and Stella's daughter Nina Vest (Bennett) Worley wrote in a March 1992 letter:
"Daddy (Leonard Vest) never did join a church. But he was saved. He was out in the field up somewhere near the grave yard & barn on the hill above the house (on White Oak Mountain)…he was meditating and then he started praying - a voice spoke to him and asked him what he wanted - he said good health and a long life. (Mother told me this.) I figure he was about 50...When the old men came to the casket when he was demised - I heard one say to another, 'He was always the gentleman of the crowd.' Knowing my daddy I knew it was true. Grandmother & daddy, Malinda and Lum, for short, were never baptised. Grandmother (Malinda) told (her son) Uncle Sanford (Vest), she wasn't good enough to join a church. But they sat behind the cook stove and read the Bible to each other. I'm sure they were saved."
Grandpa died of a heart attack in his home on March 20, 1960, in his White Oak Mountain home. The wake was held in the Vest home. Grandpa had said he didn't want people coming to the funeral parlor and eating cookies on his casket. He was buried in Smith Cemetery on our property. It was winter and the men digging the grave used dynamite to loosen the frozen soil. A bulldozer was brought in to clear a path up the hill.
Grandma Stella died on Jan. 24, 1965, in her daughter Golda's home, surrounded by family. She was buried in Smith Cemetery next to Grandpa. Note: because of an error by whoever produced the tombstone, they are buried exactly opposite what it says on the monument.
By Eva Smith
Leonard Haliburton Vest was born on Nov. 27, 1880, a son of Columbus Washington Vest and wife Malinda Jane Cochran of White Oak Mountain, W.Va. He had three brothers, Luther Flemon Vest (1883-1931), Sanford Walter Vest (1890-1961) and Ethiel Barah Vest (1897-1995) and a sister, Callie Matilda Vest Richmond (1887-1935).
Leonard and Emma Stella Gadd were married on June 11, 1907, in Hinton, Summers County, W.Va., by the Rev. W. W. McMillian. Witnesses were L.F. Vest (probably his brother Luther) and Jack Cochran. Stella was born on May 23, 1879, a daughter of Powell Wade Gadd and wife Emma Melissa Martin.
An article in a Beckley, W.Va. newspaper, The Raleigh Herald, reprinted an item from The Summers Republican: "L.H. Vest, of Raleigh county, and Miss Stella Farmer of Summers county were happily married at the Presley boarding house of Bluff street, Tuesday evening at 5 o'clock. They will make their future home at Terry, in Raleigh county." The marriage record says Leonard was widowed and Stella divorced.
In her 20s, Stella was widowed when her first husband James Anderson Elmer Via, who worked in timber, was killed on Nov. 21, 1902 by a falling tree. Anderson and Stella had a son, Dewey Abshire Anderson Via, who was an infant when his father died. Her second husband, Charles Odey Farmer, was abusive and held her captive in Virginia. Stella managed to escape with Dewey and make it back to her family in West Virginia.
Leonard's first wife, Clara Alice Plumley, died a few months after giving birth to their son Claude "Claudie" Raymond Vest on Nov. 21, 1901. Clara was born on June 13, 1884, a daughter of Isaac Plumley and wife Mary Vest. Her place of burial is unknown.
So, Leonard and Stella both brought sons to the marriage – Dewey Via, 5, and Claude Vest, 6. Together Leonard and Stella had eight children: Dewey (1902-1936) and Claude (1901-1961) and six daughters born to them, Verna Veatrice (1908-1980), Golda Mae (1911-1991), Sylvia Gladys (1913-1921), Nina Arabell (1916-2003), Josephine (1920-1921) and Ola Pearl (1922-1986). (A note on Ola's name probably written by Nina: "Named Ola at birth - called Flossie. Nina sent "Pearl" in to Vital (Statistics?) age of 9.")
Sylvia, 8, and Josephine, 1, died at home within a few hours of each other of diphtheria. Stella's family Bible records the date as Sept. 2, 1921, for both girls. However, their sister Nina remembered Sylvia dying at 9 p.m. and the Josephine dying at 9 a.m. the next morning. Stella's son Dewey, 34, died on Sept. 12, 1936. He had health problems from birth.
I lived next door to my grandparents, Leonard and Stella. His parents, Columbus and Malinda Jane, had divided up their land on White Oak Mountain in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Leonard and Stella built "the yellow house" on his piece of property, probably in the late 1920s. Leonard and Stella later sold the house and land to my parents, Earl George Smith and wife Golda Mae Vest, in the 1940s with the provision that the older couple could build on the land and have a life interest. Grandpa and Grandma Vest lived in a little house next to ours.
I remember Grandpa Leonard as a kind, intelligent man. He listened to news on the radio with interest and was the family advisor on who the best political candidates were. He was very progressive and wanted his daughters to be educated so they could "take care of themselves." I was told that he loved to hunt in his younger days. Grandpa love baseball and would take his grandson Harold Leonard Hinte on the train to games in Cincinnati.
His family was said to have Indian blood and that accounted for his propensity for hunting rather than farming. Grandpa sure looked like he was part Indian, with his coarse black hair and high cheekbones.
I loved to run "out the path" and see my grandfather. He would give me peppermint candy sticks. I would give him a kiss on the cheek and his beard would be scratchy. Grandpa was shaky in his old age and Grandma Stella would have to shave him so he usually had stubble.
Leonard and Stella's daughter Nina Vest (Bennett) Worley wrote in a March 1992 letter:
"Daddy (Leonard Vest) never did join a church. But he was saved. He was out in the field up somewhere near the grave yard & barn on the hill above the house (on White Oak Mountain)…he was meditating and then he started praying - a voice spoke to him and asked him what he wanted - he said good health and a long life. (Mother told me this.) I figure he was about 50...When the old men came to the casket when he was demised - I heard one say to another, 'He was always the gentleman of the crowd.' Knowing my daddy I knew it was true. Grandmother & daddy, Malinda and Lum, for short, were never baptised. Grandmother (Malinda) told (her son) Uncle Sanford (Vest), she wasn't good enough to join a church. But they sat behind the cook stove and read the Bible to each other. I'm sure they were saved."
Grandpa died of a heart attack in his home on March 20, 1960, in his White Oak Mountain home. The wake was held in the Vest home. Grandpa had said he didn't want people coming to the funeral parlor and eating cookies on his casket. He was buried in Smith Cemetery on our property. It was winter and the men digging the grave used dynamite to loosen the frozen soil. A bulldozer was brought in to clear a path up the hill.
Grandma Stella died on Jan. 24, 1965, in her daughter Golda's home, surrounded by family. She was buried in Smith Cemetery next to Grandpa. Note: because of an error by whoever produced the tombstone, they are buried exactly opposite what it says on the monument.
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