I'm from Catawba, Virginia and graduated and retired from Virginia Tech. I currently reside in Greensboro, North Carolina with my wife Tina and our pup Chloe where I pastor a small Church. I have written the first book ever about the people and places of Catawba, Virginia. My interests include throwing the shot put and discus in Master's track and field events.
What a wonderful Blessing Tina and I received at the County Connection annual concert benefitting Operation Santa Claus for needy patients at Catawba Hospital, on December 16, 2018. They are very talented musicians and vocalists carrying on the talent passed down by their ancestors. I thought the musical arrangements were outstanding in every sense of the word. The Mountains were alive with the sound of our kind of music and we thought we would share it with you. Enjoy and Merry Christmas. Thank you County Connection, we are looking forward to hearing you again!
I am planning to do a post on the echoesfromcatawba blog about celebrating Christmas in Catawba as a child during the period 1935-1955. I am asking anyone who would like to share a comment about their “old timey” Christmas to do so. It can be on the kind of gifts you received, cutting a Christmas tree, Christmas activities in your church, etc. All folks participating will have their names put into a drawing with the winning name drawn receiving a $50 gift card. Deadline to submit your story is December 15th.
Keep it within 100 words. At the bottom of this post, under “Leave a Reply” share your story in the comment section.
Your stories will be included with my article I will be publishing before Christmas.
The 4 a.m. call I got that rainy Tuesday morning on April 24, 2018, informing me that my mother had passed away was not a surprise at all. The caller, my sister Barbara, had alerted me a few days earlier that it would happen at any time.
After the call I sat down with my thoughts, processing the loss which had been on my mind for the past few days. It was not just the loss of a mother, but the end of the largest family Catawba Valley, Virginia had ever known.
William and Luemma Garman had produced seventeen children starting in 1890 and ending in 2018 spanning a total of 128 years. Mama was the last of that line. Out of the seventeen children, there would spring sixty-six grandchildren. There was a wonderful story and history regarding this family that had never been told. I had arrived at that conclusion thirty days earlier in late March when Mama was obviously in her last weeks if not days. I sensed now a loss of not only a mother but a family dynasty whose story would most likely never be recorded.
I felt guilt and shame that I had not addressed this decades earlier when members of my family were alive and alert with tons of stories to tell. The last three: Mae Garman Peters, Earl Garman Taylor, and Elizabeth Garman Carroll Eakin had lived over 100 years each, with two of them knocking on the door of 109 years.
Twenty-five years earlier Lucille Brillhart Garman (my first-grade teacher) had told me: “Teddy someone needs to write about Catawba and the Garmans, and you are the one to do it. I heartily agreed, and then did nothing about it. The feeling of my letting the Garman family down had become a burden that was difficult to carry.
As always, I turned to God, and HE immediately put on my heart that it was not too late and I could write about this family and all of Catawba——just start writing. Lucille had said the same thing—just write. Next, I sat down with my wife Tina because nothing happens in our lives until we have prayed about it and discussed it together. Tina said, with authority, I might add—–just write. And I would! My life was going to change!
I was one of twenty-four grandchildren alive at that time (out of original 66) and there were multitudes of great-grandchildren, great, great grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren, etc out there that would know little about the families they descended from. They would know even less about Catawba and maybe zero about life in Catawba as experienced by their ancestors. The story of Catawba Valley, Virginia, its people, places, and events would have wide range appeal to non-Catawbians, rural and urban audiences. There would be a need to do this, and I was not going to let it slip by this time.
Thankfully, my wife Tina has computer skills and knows how to build a website and use social media. I would do the bulk of the writing and she would handle the publishing, marketing and technical oversight of this project.
She suggested setting up a blog for publishing monthly posts about the people and places of Catawba. Together we would interview people in Catawba to build our stories, and we would publish those stories in monthly posts to our Echoes From Catawba blog.
After many hours, many interviews and many miles the first book ever about the people and places of Catawba Valley, Virginia has been born. The echoes from the past have trickled down through the generations and present voices have carried the torch forward, passed on to the future generations to unveil the life and times of our nineteenth-century ancestors. Those ancestors came from mostly Northern Ireland but also Germany and England to find a better life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. In the early 1900s, they would create a unique community in this mountain-walled valley that would forever be called Catawba. On November 7, 2018, over 6,000 visitors had viewed the Blog site creating 13,000 views in seven month’s time!
Echoes From Catawba Growing Up in Catawba Valley, Appalachia contains all the posts written in 2018. The book is 6″ by 9″ with a hardcover and high quality throughout. We have used some blog pictures as well as some different ones that blend well with the printed stories. My writing style is different than most writers and I have no formal education on How to Write a Book. I gather information from Catawba people as they recall their childhood days growing up in a totally different world we live in now. I then used my personal experiences growing up in the mountains in the 1940s and 1950s as well as calling upon my memories of hearing what the previous generation conveyed to me. The echoes grew loud and clear.
After gathering information from interviews and research I would compose the stories with heart and humor so as to transform the reader back into those early times of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Any fiction that may crop up is strictly accidental and not intended. It may sound like fiction to some (that’s okay) but it is history put forth in stories written to induce a smile, maybe a tear and retained knowledge of rural life in the early 1900s.
This book puts an end to the erosion of knowledge of the people, their times and places that they left for us. There has existed a potential loss of great magnitude of our heritage in this postmodern world we live in now, especially to the younger generations. Echoes from Catawba Volume One puts an end to the lament of folks saying, “we need to be documenting the life and times of our parents and grandparents before it is all forgotten.” The coming together of Catawba people has created a groundswell of interest, effort, and support to document and preserve our great heritage. In the past seven months, I have witnessed an amazing spirit amongst those telling the stories as well as those reading the stories. That spirit lives within all Catawbians regardless of where they are now. Many have lived in Catawba all their lives. I hasten to add that this book has drawn the interest of urban people who have no connection to Appalachia and never experienced rural living. These are stories that should appeal to any reader.
I am hopeful that every Catawba household, regardless of where that may be, will have a copy of this book and all future volumes. We owe that to the people of the past and of the future. The stories are enlightening, interesting, heartwarming and inspiring.
~Ted Carroll
Echoes From Catawba book release will be held at the Catawba Valley Holiday Market on Saturday, November 17 from 9 am to 3 pm.
The Holiday Market is held at the Catawba Valley Community Center at 4965 Catawba Creek Road, Catawba, Virginia. The event will have 30 vendors with items created by local crafters and artisans. We hope to see you there!
If you can’t make it to the market, order books at the Echoes From Catawba Trading Post. Books will be shipped the week of November 19. Pre-orders are already being received.
“It didn’t make no never mind to me, no how, if that hound dog got saved during that sprinkling-baptism that occurred during the ceremony by Preacher Reynolds. I know I did!”
A large hound was licking water off my shoe as I stood at the front of the church with cousin Jimmy Garman as Preacher Reynolds sprinkled water on our heads, which is the Methodist version of baptism when folks accept the Lord and become saved. In the old Catawba Methodist Church which was built in 1884 and razed in 1962, we had, literally, an open door policy.
In the summer months, the two front doors would usually be open to give air circulation in the church. It was not unusual to have a dog, cat, or occasional bird come to the service. Along with plentiful moths and winged insects drawn to a light. That was life in any country church in the mountains.
INTRODUCTION
Let me introduce s special lady, a friend and native of Catawba who has been removed from the Valley for several decades, however, Catawba was never removed from her. In November 1964, Eleanor Jean Brillhart Avery diligently researched and prepared this “heartfelt” memoir, dedicating it to her daughter Amy Brillhart Avery. Beautifully composed, a mother shares her heart, mind, and soul to a daughter of what this Little White Church in the Wildwood has meant to her life. This story will enlighten you, uplift you, bring a tear to your eyes and leave you inspired. How Blessed I am to have my friend Eleanor Jean to be a guest writer on Echoes From Catawba. You are about to receive that Blessing.
MORE THAN JUST A BUILDING THIS IS CATAWBA METHODIST CHURCH—-MY CHURCH By Eleanor Jean Brillhart Avery
November 1964
A church is a building It may be modest or fine It may be red brick Or rough hand-hewn pine If CHRIST is at the center I know that’s a sign This is a church I’d be proud to call mine.
CATAWBA——A strange sounding name for a place that I love, but it brings to me memories of a beautiful blue mountain with brown and green knolls, crossed by the Appalachian Trail. There is a lush green valley patchworked with alfalfa and corn fields and stamped with white farmhouses. A creek, called Catawba creek, gliding through sweet meadows that produced lush hay crops from the loamy soil in the “bottom” fields.
As Catawba Creek hurried along in its Eastward path it would pass by a Settlement of sorts that had a General store and a miniature post office. Very close by stood the little red schoolhouse, called Catawba School that I attended. Across the road from the school stood a newly built Catawba Methodist Church that replaced the original one-room structure that was built in 1884. Nearby was Catawba Sanatorium, which was once the site of Roanoke Red Hotel, an outstanding summer resort for many years.
In years past there was a railroad from Salem to the foot of the mountain on the Mason Cove side. It was built, originally, to haul crushed sandstone from the quarry located on the mountain. The train also hauled coal for the Sanatorium and had one passenger car that took Catawbians bound for Roanoke to the streetcar lane at Lakeside. In turn, it would bring to Catawba the ministers who conducted the services at our little white church, as well as to other churches in the Valley.
Even before there was a train track or a summer resort or sounds of hymns filling the air, there were people who roamed about this rich limestone valley. This area was the hunting territory for the warring Shawnee and Cherokee Indian tribes. One of the greatest Indian trails in the country passed over Catawba Mountain.
The memories of Catawba will always be a part of me for this is where I first opened my eyes to the world, first smiled, played my first games, kissed my first boyfriend and all the other “firsts” that go along with growing up. Outside of my home, I know now the most important influence in my young life was the little one-room white church. It was at the very center of life in the community. Here the people gathered on Sunday for worship and also for the fellowship that comes with mingling with neighbors and friends reviewing all the latest happenings in the neighborhood.
There is a saying that “Home is where the heart is.” Though many years have gone by since I have been away from the blue mountain and the green valley, the little red school, and the little white church, a part of my heart still belongs there. For the many years that lie ahead, when I hear that strange-sounding Indian name, Catawba, it will still mean, “my home” to me.
Eleanor Brillhart Avery
Author: Eleanor Jean Brillhart Avery
Dedicated to Amy Brillhart Avery
“To give her interesting highlights about my first church home and an understanding of the meaning this church has had for my life.”
Credits: (historical facts) Jerry Morgan, Essie Morgan, my parents: Marvin & Amy Brillhart.
A tribute to Lelia “Lucille” (Brillhart) Garman May 23, 1920 ~ January 23, 2019
“Old School” was originally published September 2018.
Introduction
This article relates to the school history from 1928-1981 and some insight on the students, teachers, cooks and custodians. It is designed to take you down a memory lane as stories are retold by some of the former students.
” Where Have All the Children Gone”
Catawba School just sits there. It appears lifeless, non-living, inanimate which in a way is properly stated. Most inanimate objects are referred to as “it”. We do not have a gender pronoun for inanimate things. They are just called “it”. I am going to change that right now.
“She” sits there clothed in the same red brick she has worn for 90 years, staring at the Methodist church across Rt. 779 looking at the North Mountain looming skyward in the background.
What are her thoughts? Does she think perhaps she was decommissioned in 1981, much like the USS Missouri Battleship would be in 1992, considered to be obsolete? No longer needed with no legacy to leave to the good people of Catawba Valley? And where have all the children gone?
If Catawba School could speak what stories would she tell? I was born and raised in a small house in 1940 which was located right beside the School. I have an experience of personal history with her that most do not and I will take the liberty of speaking on her behalf. She turns ninety this year having been built in 1928, so she has served as a high school initially and an elementary school later on for a total of 53 years. Hundreds of students would have attended school there over that period which ceased to be a high school in 1939-40 when those above 7th grade headed to Andrew Lewis High School. Catawba School would have been solely an elementary (1st through 7th) grade school at that time until its closing in the Spring of 1981.
Irene Howdyshell Bell, Clyde Starkey, Grace Deeds, Goldie Damewood Garman, Lois Martin Campbell, Cleo Damewood Martin, Helin Lemon Conner, Avis Damewood Garman, Doris Martin, Elizabeth Garman CarrollCarriden Grisso, Earl Starkey, Ronald Thomas, Loren Thomas, Roy Lemon, Donald Custer 1930
I believe that Catawba School was more than a school from the very beginning. It was a community center before it became a Community Center. More than just education happened there. The old Catawba Methodist Church held Easter Pageants there many times. It was normal to have fundraising ice cream suppers there which were heavily attended.
Country bands like Reno & Smiley and others would play at the school auditorium to packed audiences. The school itself had children events scheduled there for parents and community to attend. Baseball was played on the lower part of the property most every Sunday afternoon. The school was an institution that served many purposes, as they should. Little did we know that in 1986 it would become in reality the Catawba Community Center. And rightfully so I might add. May it be so forever.
“As she turned her head, there was a popping/pulling sound in her neck that triggered a stroke and would end the hopes and dreams for a promising life————-or would it?”
Peggy Taylor
I cannot remember the first time I laid eyes on Peggy Taylor, but I do recall that she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. During our growing up years as first cousins, there were many occasions that I would be in her presence either at school or the many times the families of Will and Euemma Garman gathered. The adults would gather in the parlor to play Rook, work on putting the pieces to a large puzzle together, or just talk. The young folks would gather in the kitchen and play games, laugh and act silly. Then there were times like square dances at the old Mill, get-togethers at each other’s homes, ice cream suppers and Sunday afternoons at the Garman homeplace. I never told anybody about my infatuation with Peggy, mainly because I was the shyest boy in Catawba until my ninth grade year in high school. I could imagine there would have been a lot of teasing and laughing at my expense had I made my feelings about her known.
After high school and four years at Virginia Tech, I would be married with two children and headed out of the Valley. I would begin a career as an Extension Agent for the next 25 or so years. During that time on I looked at Peggy as an admired cousin and close friend. I would see Peggy and her husband once in a while over the years and hear my mother talk about her from time to time. My birthday is April 1 and Peggy’s is April 4 and I would over the years, at times, call her to wish her a happy birthday. Life would go on for me.
Henry and Peggy
Peggy, on the other hand, would attend Andrew Lewis High School, graduating in 1957. She would go to work at Rowe Furniture soon after graduation where she would meet her future husband Henry Halsey. Henry worked as a Production Manager and would have a desk that was located just outside of the office door where Peggy worked. She likes to tell that story with a smile, that reflects the feeling of her good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. Kind of a smug smile that a cat would have knowing where the mouse was. Henry, obviously, liked this arrangement as he fell in love with 19-year-old Peggy. A year or so later on June 22, 1959, they were married.
They would live in Catawba right beside the Taylor homeplace (where sister Lola currently lives) and start their family. A daughter Judy was born in 1960 and their second daughter Pam came along in 1966.
Henry retired after 43 years with Rowe. Over time he made the furniture that is still in their house today, Peggy proudly proclaims. Life was good for this fine young couple and they were held in high esteem by everyone. A storybook marriage, two beautiful daughters and living in Catawba near family and many friends, God had been good to the Halsey family.
This would be a Christian family as the years went forward with Henry, Peggy, Judy and Pam rarely missing a service at Shiloh Church. They sang in the choir, cut the grass and saw to the maintenance of the church building and grounds. Henry served as superintendent of Sunday School for a long time as well as serving as a teacher. Peggy worked at Classic Furniture of Rowe until they closed down in the late seventies. She found herself unemployed. Peggy’s father Paris had worked at the Catawba Sanatorium and retired in 1970. He found out about a job opening in the business office and encouraged her to apply, which she did. She was hired in December 1978. Unlike when Sandra was hired there, Daddy Paris did not go with Peggy to the interview to help answer questions. She knew God had blessed her with this job which was just a short drive from her home. Just three weeks into her job, as the year 1979 unfolded Peggy’s life would change forever.
It was a cold day on Wednesday, January 3, 1979, as Peggy left work to drive home. In three months she would turn 40 and had to be feeling very blessed with her new job and the approaching golden years with Henry, Judy, Pam, and grandchildren. As she pulled out of the parking lot of the Sanatorium she turned her head to check traffic and felt something pop and pull in her neck. She felt dizzy but was able to drive home which was just a few minutes away. Going inside she waited for Henry to arrive home while a feeling of nausea and chills came over her. When Henry arrived he immediately drove her to a doctor. The doctor diagnosed her as coming down with the flu and sent her home. A few days later she was not feeling any better and Henry took her to the hospital. Tests revealed she had an aneurysm that had caused a stroke on her right side.
She was put into intensive care and stayed there for three weeks. She was then moved out of intensive care but remained in the hospital for three months. She was unable to speak as she started receiving physical therapy while in the hospital. She spent her 40th birthday on April 4, 1979, while still in the hospital. Peggy would return to her Catawba home on April 7 still unable to talk. Speech therapy was set up for her three days a week in Roanoke. Henry would take off from his work at Rowe Furniture and take her to these sessions. She was asked to bring a book to speech therapy to practice reading aloud. The book Peggy chose was her Bible. It would take several months before she could talk and she communicated by writing things on paper.
Her stroke was on her right side but by the grace of God, she was born with her left hand being the one she wrote with. At home, she would continue with physical therapy by doing exercises on her own. I have seen people find themselves in an identical state like Peggy but accept their condition, give up and lose years of living a fulfilling life. Peggy would not accept the suggestion that she would have her life altered by any physical restraints. She was determined to achieve every aspect of a normal life that she could and settle for nothing less. That would take courage and faith.
Courage Was Her Name
Peggy had tremendous faith but she also had courage and a determined mindset to be the best she could be. She was fitted for a brace on her right foot to keep that foot straight and rigid. When she gets shoes she has to get two different sizes. She was given a 4-legged cane to walk with when she left the hospital and she still has that cane thirty nine years later. With encouragement from her daughters, Peggy started to do household tasks like washing dishes, making her bed, running the swifter on the floor and hanging clothes outside on the clothesline. She had a cart with a basket to haul clothes and firewood. She started to cook again, go shopping with Lola, visiting and leading a very active life. In the last few years, the use of a wheelchair on some occasions is required, especially when in crowds. Family members would take turns helping her out and taking her places. Sister Sandra, who held a full-time job helped Henry out with Peggy when she could. All her extended family helped her at times. But one would soon leave her.
A Loss and a Gain
Her beloved husband Henry would go to be with the Lord on March 22, 2009, just three months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary. This woman of courage lost her mate who had been there for her through sickness and health. She knew he was in a better place but she also knew that his verbal and physical help would no longer be there. Enter sister Sandra. Sandra would retire after 37 years at Catawba Sanatorium in the year 2009 and she would begin assisting Peggy on a regular basis and continues in that role today. Peggy depends a great deal on Sandra who drives her to about any place she wants or needs to go. It is normal to see the two of them together. Whenever Sandra is unable to fill a need for Peggy, Peggy’s daughters and other family members step in. What Sandra is doing for the sister she admires so much is a ministry in every sense of the word. I told Sandra recently that I saw a lot of Peggy in her. She told me that was the best compliment anyone could give her because she thought Peggy was the best.
Peggy is not just a receiver she is a giver to others.
Peggy’s Ministry
If caring for her sister is Sandra’s ministry than what would be Peggy’s ministry? While visiting with Peggy recently I told her that her life was a ministry. People look at how her faith and courage has brought her to a fulfilling life that she shares by just being Peggy. Never complaining, never saying “why me”, never blaming God but always portraying courage and faith.
She visits friends and kin in nursing homes or wherever they may be. She is there to comfort when a death occurs. My sister Barbara shared with me about Peggy and Sandra faithfully visiting our mother at Snyder Nursing Home many times over the past few years. She is faithful to being a part of her church family and enjoys the fellowship. Her life is a sermon! Everybody in Catawba knows her and speaks highly of her at all times. She is a joy to visit and you leave inspired by being in her presence.
Lola and Sandra both shared that when they have a physical problem or situation they hesitate to complain because Peggy never complains. And remember, come January of 2019 she will have had this stroke injury for 40 years! Just think about that. One half of her life.
I am thankful that I have had a special relationship that started during our childhood and blossomed again recently as the years became decades. The Lord willing, I intend to visit with her as often as I can. Being in her presence is an inspiration in itself. It has been an honor for me to bring to all of you—-Peggy’s Story. Thanks Peggy, from me and all those folks that your life has touched.
Pearl Garman Taylor cut off a finger of her older sister in response to a dare. Her sister Earl, 16 months older than Pearl dared her one day to do it. Back in the days of their childhood, the children had told their mother they were going up to the woodpile to play. Their mother, Luemma, warned them not to mess with the ax! Now we all know that such warnings turn into challenges for kids to do the opposite. As Earl would tell and re-tell the story over the years, Pearl picked up the ax and Earl gave her the dare to cut off her finger. Earl then backed up to the chopping block and put both hands on the block. Down came the cutting edge and her ring finger became a half finger. Daddy Will, who was the “doctor” of the family tried to sew it back on but the finger would not attach itself over several days and the cutoff portion was “buried”. Legend has it that the buried finger did not take root either.
No hard feelings as the two sisters would grow up being very close, (as long as Pearl didn’t have an ax in her hand). They would eventually marry and start families. Earl would marry Dorsey Taylor and Pearl would marry Dorsey’s brother, Paris Taylor. The two Taylor families would live close to one another for a number of years.
Paris and Pearl Taylor
Pearl and Paris Taylor
Paris Taylor was born November 29, 1903, in Craig County, Virginia to Harvey and Roberta McPherson Taylor. Pearl Garman was born November 21, 1908, in Catawba, Virginia in a family of 17 children of William and Luemma Garman (nine boys and 8 girls). For a look at that clan check out the “Be Fruitful” article on this blog.
Paris and Pearl were married October 24, 1931, in Craig County, Virginia. They would find a three-room house for rent at $3.00 per month located in northwest Catawba on route 704, which is now called Damewood Drive and runs along a ridge top. In this three-room house, they would start their family, which eventually grew to 9 children.
Paris and Pearl were married just as the Great Depression was getting underway and times were hard on people everywhere. I believe that mountain people were better off than others during this time. They faced difficulties like no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and with children born about every two years, lots of mouths to feed. The biggest issue in the Great Depression would be the lack of cash money due to the scarcity of jobs. If you had a roof over your head and lived off of the land you had, then you could survive. All of Catawba Valley was like that during this time and people helped each other so that neighbors and kinfolk did not go hungry. Appalachian Mountain folks have, in my mind three great traits: They are God-fearing, honest and hard working. Being descendants of the Scot-Irish did not hurt either. Paris and Pearl Taylor fit all three of these aforementioned qualities.
If, as I have stated earlier that marriage is a contract to raise a family, I would say that the family Paris and Pearl Taylor raised was a huge success. I feel so blessed to have known and interacted to varying degrees with each and every one of them. My heartfelt thanks to Lola, Peggy, Willis, and Sandra for sharing with me this story that was indeed, “Taylor Made”. They shared it based on their experiences and on behalf of their deceased mother, father, brothers, and sisters.
Amazing is the first thing I can say about the “Echoes From Catawba” blog project created to publish articles about the life and times in Catawba Valley going back to the people and places that our Scot-Irish ancestors created. I felt a “calling” to attempt to write and preserve the lives of Catawbians who made our Valley such a great place to live in and be from. My desire is to see this heritage live on especially for our children.
We are now completing 90 days since the start-up of “Echoes” and are some 50 views and visitors away from reaching the level of 6,000 views and 2500 visitors. We have 89 comments so far and 53 who are email followers. The email followers are those folks who get notified when a new article is posted.
The last article (Shepherd Family) was posted June 24, 2018 and was singled out by a blog monitoring service as a “Recommended Reading” to blog readers.
I am currently preparing my next post which is a story of a sweet family and special person that you will enjoy. My intent is to post this within 8-10 days. Beyond that, I intend to do articles on Catawba School, Catawba Methodist Church, Frankie & Louise Garman, Catawba Sanatorium/Farm and Morgan Farm/Homeplace.
Due to the time-consuming work of research on each article and my on-going work on a book, I will do a blog post once a month. I would like to do two per month, but that is not realistic at present. I am working on some ideas to bring more material to the blog in the near future. We are going through “growing pains” right now.
I am so very thankful first and foremost to God for calling me to this endeavor and to Him goes the glory. Secondly, I am blessed to have all of you readers who are partaking of the blog posts. Your feedback has been great and that in itself is a motivator. I love doing this so keep reading and telling me what you think especially, in making things better. I will listen to anyone who would like to be considered as a guest blogger. Also, if you enjoy doing research and interviews then let me know, especially if you live in Catawba.
Tina continues to make improvements to the website by adding photo albums and eventually a store where you will be able to pre-order “Echoes From Catawba” Volume 1 and a few other traditional craft items.
Yes, an “Echoes From Catawba” Volume 1 will be available soon. We are going to compile all the posts for 2018 and publish them into a book so that you have a record of our writings. We will do this each year. Not all people have computers and even for those that do, this will be a good keepsake handy for reference or pleasure, or both! We will be ready in 2-3 months to start taking pre-orders with the Echoes Volume 1 and make it available for delivery starting December 1, 2018. This professionally printed book will make an attractive and quality Christmas gift. We will sell these at what they cost us so they will be very affordable.
If you are on Facebook, remember to like and share the Echoes From Catawba Facebook Page.
Claude E. Shepherd had been called Pud (rhymes with good) for as long as anyone can remember. It’s a mystery where this nickname came from. He was called Pud by those who knew him, daddy Pud by his children, uncle Pud, cousin Pud, etc.
Carra and Claude Shepherd
Claude married Carra E Garman on December 1, 1923. Both were from Catawba, Virginia as were their parents. Claude was born on November 7, 1904, to John and Mollie Shepherd. There were seven boys and two girls in the Shepherd family. Carra was the ninth child of 17 children born on September 4, 1900, to William and Luemma Garman. That family had nine boys and eight girls.
After Claude and Carra married, they lived with Claude’s parents in Catawba Valley. Their first child, Rachel was born there on September 18, 1924. Not long after Rachel was born Claude and Carra moved to a large home on Catawba Creek road on the Andrews Farm where Claude would work as the manager for many years.
The family would grow quickly with the next births being the arrival of twin girls, Christine, followed 10 minutes later by Claudine on February 7, 1927. Twin girls was a historic event. Out of 66 children born to 14 families of William & Luemma Garman, there would only be one set of twins. In time, Claudine and Christine would be referred to as the “Catawba Twins.”
Two years later on February 9, 1929, Betty would be born. They would have one more child, and Claude would assume I am sure that it would be a boy. Wrong. In March of 1933 a redheaded baby girl, Helen, would arrive to complete the family of five girls. All five were born at home delivered by the Catawba midwife, Ms. Lawson. Rachel and Helen were redheads like their dad, while the twins would be brunettes and Betty would have jet black hair as daddy Pud would say.
Over the next quarter century, this family of five would journey through hardships, the Depression and World War Two. Not that they were alone in that respect because all the families living in Catawba Valley, Virginia would do the same. Travel with me now as we go back in time to see how this family reflects on their lives.
STRAW TICK MATTRESS, LANTERNS & THE OUTHOUSE
The Shepherd’s house on Andrews Farm Artist: Helen Shepherd
After marriage and starting a family, Pud became manager of the Andrew’s farm and moved the family of seven into the large farmhouse that was on the Andrew’s property. Back in that period, most folks lived on farms and had large families to do the work, being it was quite helpful to have a good mixture of boys and girls. The Shepherd family was complete with Daddy Pud, the only man in a home with six ladies. Have mercy!
Most all families in that day had similar living conditions. No indoor plumbing, no electricity, minimal heating, and no grocery store are things that most all people, today, find unimaginable. But those of us raised in those harsh times know how it was and are better today because of it. The Shepherd family had one advantage that others did not. Water was piped into their home from a nearby spring, and that water was as cold as could be and the sweetest tasting water this side of heaven. Other families had to carry water to their homes, sometimes for long distances and at times uphill.
The Shepherd’s house had large rooms and was very spacious. It was a beautiful farmhouse with a porch that had a nice view of Catawba all around you—– there really is no such thing as a bad Catawba view. The girls slept on straw tick mattresses. A straw tick is a large cloth bag stuffed with straw and sometimes corn shucks or leaves. That was your bed. No frame, forget having a box spring, just a bag stuffed with straw lying on the floor. No problem getting out of bed. The girls would get excited when once a year Daddy Pud would put fresh straw into their mattresses. On occasion, parents might have a feather bed but not so the children. Not enough feathers to go around, I suppose. The only heat at night in the winter would come from a fireplace or cook stove. Mostly at bedtime one would put on heavy clothes and pile on quilts to stay warm.
Without electricity, there were no lights although electricity would come years later, and when it did, there was just a light bulb in the ceiling with a pull cord. Oil lamps were used sparingly, and they were a source that one had to handle carefully. Oil lanterns were all school-age children had to read and study by after dark. Things that we take for granted were nonexistent in the Valley.
Christine, Rachel, Claudine, Betty and Helen ready for church
Cousins. Back: Christine Shepherd, Kathleen Taylor, Helen Shepherd, Hilda Taylor, Jo Taylor, Harold Taylor, Willis Taylor Front: Eloise Taylor, Fred Taylor, Lola Taylor, Peggy Taylor and Melvin Taylor
Claude’s Model T
While caring for the livestock was part of the girl’s responsibility, Batty came up with a way to feed three lambs at one time. Holding one bottle in each hand and holding one bottle between her knees.
Tina and I both were feeling the effects of traveling from our home of twenty years in Greensboro, North Carolina doing a 2-hour visit/interview with cousin Christine Shepherd Kanode Trumbull and a 2 1/2-hour luncheon with two more cousins, Hilda Wright and Kathleen Peery. Our visits were two-fold: most importantly, to visit socially and enjoy each other’s company, but also to get input for future blog articles for the Echoes from Catawba blog that we started publishing April 14, 2018. Those morning and afternoon visits, while wonderful, do leave you hoarse and emotionally drained. So, as we motored across Catawba mountain to our 3 pm appointment, we were feeling both tired and joyful.
Once cresting the mountain and descending the north side I was home again. The muscle/mental memory of familiarity kicked in as we waved at Keffer’s store, passed the Morgan Farm now known as the Homeplace Restaurant and turned left on the Creek road. I know that the sign said Blacksburg road (as do your home addresses) but it is the Creek road to me. And while we are at it, the road named Newport road is the Back road to me. Up the Creek road we went, Tina driving and me trying to figure out who lived where they used to and seeing some houses that were new to me. I was very relieved a short time later to see the Bill and Net Starkey home looking the same as it did decades ago.
Starkey Home Place Photo credit Herb Grisso
Patty graciously came out and met us just as her mother Net would have done years ago. Tina and I had talked to Patty at Mama’s funeral services, so it was not like a first sighting since forever.
Bill and Net Starkey
I’ve known Patty since childhood as well as her mother Net and father Bill, also brothers Larry and Johnny. Her parents are deceased, and in 2012 Johnny went to join them in Heaven, much too early. I have always felt that the Starkey family of five that I have just mentioned was one of the finest Christian families I have ever known. Bill and Net were both active in the Catawba Methodist church during their lifetime, doing whatever needed to be done. They were active in Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, Easter Pageants, Christmas Plays and mentoring the young folks in the Methodist Youth Fellowship. When it came time to build a new church, they helped lead the effort. You could always count on those two folks!
Larry, Net, Bill, Patty and Johnny: Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary
My Dad Clarence and Bill were friends and worked with the organization of the first ever Boy Scout Troop in Catawba as well as the Ruritan Club. Larry, Patty, and Johnny were active in everything youth-oriented possessing great character that remains a part of them today.
As Patty came out to greet us, I experienced a flashback of this nice family. But today it was a time to renew our friendship with Patty and see what she was doing with the outstanding FaceBook group “Remember In Catawba When.” Tina and I were amazed at what we learned over the next three hours!
Patty, having lived in Texas over a period of time returned to Catawba in the year 2000 to care for her very ill mother Net. Net passed away in 2002. Beginning with her return to Catawba she became aware that no books were available on Catawba people and history, no organized effort in preserving the history of Catawba and no collection of photos that she had seen in neighboring communities like New Castle and Craig County. Patty has a strong love for her birthplace of Catawba, Virginia, especially the kind, caring, loving people. Although there were many great families that created the Catawba we know today, Patty feels that we are all related in some way, however distant that may be. In a sense there is one huge family—-the Catawba family. She was motivated and inspired at that time to do what she could to record Catawba’s history in pictures.
The Mission Begins
She started with family pictures, and it expanded as word got around that Catawba had a “shutterbug” named Patty Starkey. With Smartphone and computer technologies advancing at a fast pace, making it easy to transport a picture, Patty started receiving more and more pictures. As of 2018 she has in my estimation thousands of pictures from the vast majority of families with Catawba addresses or who have genuine Catawba family ties. She has already organized individual family photo albums and shared them with family members to enjoy and copy. Patty has spent countless hours and significant expense over the last 18 years researching articles, documents, photos, and conversations to sort out the intertwining genealogies in Catawba Valley.
Patty has a reason to be smiling with all of the many photo albums she has put together.
Patty has developed over time an astounding memory of who is related to whom. In casual conversation, she can recite family genealogies on many different families. Her passion for doing photo and document research has a long time ago morphed into a “Calling”. Her home has literally stacks of albums, containers of photos and things placed about on shelves and tabletops. She shared some frustration in that it sometimes is overwhelming. Patty also ponders what to do with or how to handle these valuable resources. I believe she underestimates the impact that she has already made upon many people, maybe hundreds, who enjoy reliving the past through the photos she has collected.
The Fruits of Her Labor
In 2013 she founded a private group on FaceBook called Remember In Catawba When, whereas, people with connections to Catawba through family ties could enjoy their heritage through articles and photos of all things Catawba over three centuries. This Group now in its sixth year has over 250 members. Members can share old pictures, obituaries, and documents with one another. Patty in the meantime has an endless reservoir of items (mainly photos) that she releases that are of interest to all and priceless to many. I have no idea how many people have benefitted by viewing these posts by Patty and others. The pictures of years gone by are ageless and can be viewed multiple times, bringing smiles, tears, or just a warm feeling to us.
Patty and Ted
Patty is currently working with Tina and me by providing photos for the Echoes From Catawba Blog so that our posts are enhanced by her photos to provide interesting and informative articles. So the effort to preserve Catawba’s heritage now has three advocates: Patty providing the pictures and family information, Ted the authorship of articles and Tina the website designer and manager.
Patty started all of this and Catawba should be thankful that someone decided to not just talk about preserving our heritage but to do something about it. Thank you Patty Starkey!
I am planning to do a post on the echoesfromcatawba blog about celebrating Christmas in Catawba as a child during the period 1935-1955. I am asking anyone who would like to share a comment about their “old timey” Christmas to do so. It can be on the kind of gifts you received, cutting a Christmas tree, Christmas activities in your church, etc. All folks participating will have their names put into a drawing with the winning name drawn receiving a $50 gift card. Deadline to submit your story is December 15th.
