HAMPSHIRE a*ra HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLLVIER JANUARY 1992 Hie Hampshire County Historical Society Board of Directors met Thursday, Jan. 9, 1992 and elected officers for 1992. New officers are: President- Andy Herbaugh, Augusta, W.Va. Vice-President- Brenda Hiett, Capon Bridge Secretary- Martha Bloom, Romney Alternate Secretary- Bob Smith, Kirby Treasurer- Debbie Boyce, Yellow Springs Other Board Members- Sue Lupton, Yellow Springs, Nancy Mayhew, Romney, Linda Moreland, Slanesville, Jewell Rannells, Romney. * I PRESIDENT'S CORNER Hello, I am Andy Herbaugh, your newly elected President. I live in Augusta, married with two sons and a daughter. I'm employed as a professional firefighter by the Veteran's Affairs in Martinsburg, owner of AA Herbaugh Auction Service, and work part time at French's Mill. Hampshire County Historical Society has accomplished many projects in 1991 to preserve and promote the history of Hampshire County. Funds were raised through sales of Ciristmas '^ornaments, the History of Hampshire County book and bake sales. Genealogical requests were answered, a tour for State Delegates on the Parks and Recreation Committee to the Civil war trenches, the restoration of the Slanesville Cemetery completed, and the cataloging of other cemeteries in the County. Much more was completed than can be listed. Now, more to do in 92! This year we will be doing many of the same tasks as in 1991, such as fund raisers, cataloging cemeteries, gathering information for the newsletter, and more. Some new tasks will be locating suitable property for the Parker School, selection of a print for this year's Christmas Ornament, and other projects that may come about this year. I would like to encourage the members of the Hampshire County Historical Society to keep up the hard work. Invite others to the meetings, we always need new workers and members who are interested in preserving the history of Hampshire County before we lose it. Andrew A. Herbaugh
MEMBERSHIP DUES The Board of Directors at their December meeting raised annual membership dues collected by the Society to: Individual- $10 per year. Couple- $18 per yr. Organizations- $35. These costs are effective Jan. 1, 1992 and will be reflected in your 1992 dues (when du<=4 Dues paying members will receive a quarterly newsletter, field trips and tours to historic sites in Hampshire County. Members will also receive a 25% discount on an original printing of "HISTORIC ROMNEY 1762-1937". This book was a WPA Works Project and was printed in 1937. pc S -ici <,«?_ Currently this original printing is selling for $7.45 (plus JsST) to non-members. Lifetime dues will remain the same. The increase in dues is a direct result of higher copying and postage rates on the newsletter. All dues should be sent (when due) to- Treasurer Debbie Boyce. HCHS P.O. Box 549, Augusta, W.Va 26704. One of the many pictures to be seen in an original printing (1937) of "HISTORIC ROMNEY 1762-1937". This book is now being offered to Historical. ipos+ave Society members for $5.58 (plus tea). 1 ipos-ki^ e $7.45 (plus i6 ) for non-members. This 67 page book was first offered by the Town Council of Romney and was prepared by the W.Va. Workers of the Federal Writer's Project(WPA) as a feature of the 175th Anniversary Celebration of the Founding of Romney. Pictures and buildings no longer in existence such as The New Century Hotel, which is shown here make this an invaluable book to add to anyone's HISTORIC ROMNEY BOOK ON SALE collection of local history. The New Century Hotel is no longer New Century Hotel. in existence (it was located on the lot where the Big T in Romney stands). The Hotel was built in 1914 of red brick and tall columns rising three stories in height. Of American Colonial design. (See pages 17-18 for further history) The Society was donated approximately the last 100 copies of this valuable history book fran Charlie See, Editor of the Hampshire Review. We thank Charlie for his generous donation. Anyone wishing to purchase this book, please write - HCHS P.O. Box 549 Augusta, W.Va. 26704
COUNTRY CHURCH TOUR * Society members joined together on an enjoyable and informative field trip in October to three country churches and four cemeteries. The group enjoyed warm and pleasant weather. U The first stop was Old Bethel Church and Cemetery on Grassy Lick Road. John and Juanita Timbrook were our hosts and gave the group a talk on the history of the church. The group's next stop was at Old Miller's Orchard on Heide Cooper Road at Greenlawn Cemetery. Society members Hazel Beaman and Dottie Drass provided historical information. The group moved on to Mt. Dale Church and Cemetery on Heide Cooper Rd. and finally to Hott's Chapel on Grassy Lick Rd. in Kirby. Marvin Hott and Louisa Timbrook provided historical information. The group recorded this information and set a goal of completing listing of these cemeteries this winter. Some members returned to Old Bethel Cemetery in November, and completed the cemetery listing. A complete list of last names for genealogical purposes is provided below. Old Bethel Cemetery Beatty, Davey, Dove, Doyle, Ganoe, Hott, Lear, McDonald, McKeever, Nichols, Peer, Pownall, Pownell, Shanholtzer, Shingleton, Timbrook. Members of the group are presently working on Mt. Dale Cemetery, and a future field trip for members to record Hott's Chapel Cemetery is tentatively set for late April or May. Anyone wishing to help out, please contact Nancy Mayhew at 822-4326. Our field trip was a success, with valuable information collected and with an attendance of twenty persons turning out interested in Hampshire County history! ------------------------------------------------------ RECALL OF Christmas Ornaments The Hampshire County Historical Society has issued a recall of the second printing of the 1990 Christmas ornament featuring the Literary Hall design. Red with white lettering, some of the bulbs have developed peeling of the color. Please note that the defect applies only to the second printing of this item. The manufacturer has agreed to reimburse the Society and replace the ornaments free of charge. Individuals who purchased the second printing items are asked to contact Nancy Mayhew, 822-4326 to receive free replacement. Although some of the ornaments may not show this defect, it will eventually develop, thus destroying the value as a collector's item.
SLANESVILLE CEMETERY PROJECT Members of the Society composed a letter to descendants of the Slane family and local organizations appealing for_help1 "Members of the Hampshire County Historical Society, as part of a clean-up project, visited the Slane Cemetery in Slanesville, W.Va. in the fall of 1989. We found the cemetery in extremely bad shape. The stones were broken and half buried in dirt. Historical Society members unearthed the stones and put them back in line where they belonged. We realized that this was not a permanent solution, so the Society contacted Rinker & Frye Memorials who do.restoration work on cemeteries. They gave the Society a bid of $370 to glue the stones back together and stand them upright, and finally to clean them. The Hampshire County Historical Society also hopes to erect a sign within the cemetery, telling the history of the Slanes, from whom Slanesville is named. In our quest, we were unable to find any Slanes living in Hampshire County today. By providing this little bit of modern day history to private individuals who are descendants of the Slanes and to local organizations and businesses representing the Slanesville area, the Society is asking for donations to cover the expenses of restoring this historic cemetery. We feel that this is a worthwhile project, as the cemetery is located behind the Slanesville Grade School. We hope to foster in the school children a need to preserve this part of pioneer Hampshire County history. Vie would also like any members of any organizations and private individuals to join with the Society and have an annual clean-up Decoration Day in May (school children could help) so the cemetery will stay the way it is now, preserved. We hope to see a committee of local organizations formed to maintain this cemetery. If you or your organization wish to donate to this worthwhile cause, please send your tax deductable donations to: Treasurer HCHS, P.O. Box 549, Augusta, W.Va. 26704. Please mark your donation for the Slanesville Cemetery. Anyone wishing to join the committee may contact Linda Moreland at 304-496-9341." To date, donations total $37. Enclosed is a picture of preservation work at the cemetery. Stones were put upright and glued together, and awaited cleaning. Cleaning was finished shortly before Christmas. Anyone wishing to donate to this worthwhile project, please send donations to the Society, address above. vj
P\ U January 20 February 13 CALENDAR OF EVENT'S Tuesday at 7pm. General meeting of the Society at the Capon Bridge Senior Center, located on US Rt 50 beside the Post Office in Capon Bridge. Guest speaker will be newly elected Chamber of Commerce President Lindsay Santymire. Mr. Santymire will talk on the goals of the Chamber and how the Society can work together with the Chamber to better our community. Please join us for an interesting and informative meeting. Refreshments will be served. Thursday at 7pm. Board of Directors meeting at the Bank of Romney in Augusta. Fiscal budget for the year will be discussed. February 25 March 12 n t-^march 14 March 26 April 2 April 23 April 25 Tuesday at 7pm. General meeting of the Society at Hampshire County Courthouse in Romney, VI.Va. Guest Speakers will be Mr. Larry McCauley and Mr. Earl Glenn. Both men serve on the city planning and zoning commission, and are newly appointed to serve on the City Landmarks Commission. A question and answer session about the goals of city zoning toward historic preservation of Romney J the County Seat has been scheduled. Whether you l^ve in Romney or not, the Society would like high attendance from its' members to show an interest in the County Seat as regards preservation and to show displeasure over the demolition of city landmarks. Please attend with questions about Romney's Historic District Thursday at 7pm. Board of Directors Meeting at the Bank of Romney in Augusta Saturday at 10am. Field trip to Blue Cemetery at Blue Beach Bridge on Rt 28 near Springfield. Society members Don and Carol Newman visited the cemetery last May and found the cemetery in sad disrepair and badly vandalized. They wrote the Blue family about their family cemetery. No action has been taken. The Historical Society members will survey the damage, take pictures, record a listing of the cemetery, and draft a letter to the Blue family. Join us at the Blue Beach Bridge and bring a packed lunch, plenty to drink, and shovels, picks, wood cutting tools, etc. to clean cemetery. Thursday at 7prn. General meeting of the Society at the Bank of Romney at Augusta Thursday at 7pm at Denzil's Restaurant in Augusta. Board of Directors meeting. Thursday at 7pm General meeting of Society at the Capon Bridge Senior Center in Capon Bridge. Saturday. Concord Meeting House Cemetery clean up and to build fence around the graves to keep livestock out. Meet at Seldon's Store on ±,259 near the bridge at Yellow Springs at 9:30am and bring a packed lunch and tools.