Thursday, November 20, 1975
Dear Mrs. Sharp
The articles concerning black strap brought many happy memories. Mrs. Hiner portrayed so well the making of black strap jelly.
I wonder what became of our 20-gallon copper kettle. Black strap jelly is made from the juice of sweet apples. Black strap molasses is a byproduct of the refining of cane sugar. I think they make a darker, richer gingerbread than Brer Rabbit.
Apple jack is what we called hard cider; it contained enough alcohol to make the “young blades” funny. My mother made it once only, when it was at its best, she rolled the barrel out of the cellar on the Glade Hill Farm and pulled the plug.
Another black strap was “black strap chewing tobacco.” Some old timers should remember that.
It’s fun to remember!
Mrs. John C. Turner
(Ruth Grimes)
MARLINTON GRADED SCHOOL
1907-1914
I started in the Marlinton Graded School in the fall term of 1907. The first few weeks of the first grade were held in the dining room of the old Dilley Hotel on the Knapps Creek bank across the street from the Methodist Church. Then we transferred to the new building without its outdoor plumbing. The First Grade teacher was Miss Anna Wallace; many, many people of Marlinton owe their start to this great teacher. This was the second room on the left going in at the bottom of the stairway leading to the second floor.
1908 and across the hall to the Second Grade to a Miss Beckett, a small, stout lady but a good teacher.
1909 the Third Grade – first room to the right on entering, teacher was Miss Sally Cromwell, whose father was also a teacher.
1910 and across the hall to the Fourth Grade which was taught by Miss Anna Lee Ervine, a sister-in-law to Dr. Kramer, the dentist.
In 1911, upstairs to the Fifth Grade, first room at the left of the stairs and Miss Catherine Ervine, one of my best teachers, so far. Miss Ervine had classes one night a week in her home for pupils that needed help.
1912-1913-1914, the auditorium had been divided into two or three rooms by then and the years in these rooms with teachers: Mr. Elliot Smith; Mrs. Faith Baxter, who I believe was a widow in her early 30s. The rooms were supervised by the great “George Douglas McNeill.”…
Just a note to Mrs. Ward’s article – Miss Minnie Jane Merrell was also head football coach as well as principal. She won a few games, too.
Lieut. Glen L. Vaughan, U. S. Navy (Ret.)
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Zeglin, of Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, a son, Timothy Daniel. Maternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Ed Stemple.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Dale Madison, of Summersville, a son, Devlin Andrew.
DEATHS
Richard Alton Gibson, Jr., 45, of New Freeport, Pennsylvania; born at Frost, a son of Mrs. Dolly Kennison Elligson, and the late Richard A. Gibson. Funeral service from VanReenen Funeral Home with burial in Mountain View Cemetery.
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Mrs. Elva Katherine Mullenax, 67, of Bartow; born in Highland County, a daughter of the late Aaron C. and Bella Wimer Mullenax. Funeral service from the Church of God in Durbin with burial in the family cemetery on Allegheny Mountain.
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Harry E. Morgan, 67, of Elkins, operator of Harry’s News Stand on Davis Avenue. Born near Durbin, a son of the late Elmer Charles and Melissa Peters Morgan. Following an accident in 1955 that blinded him, Mr. Morgan attended the vocational department of the West Virginia School for the Blind in Romney.
