Grandma Weiler’s Spinning Wheel
Reverend William Weiler wrote about his father's loom and his mother's "spinning outfit" which he brought back from Germany in 1908 when he visited home. Granddaughter Eleanor Wagner kept it and then gave it to me. My father learned the trade of a linen weaver, but switched over to farming after the machine looms were invented. I well remember the big loom he had in their bedroom and how he plied his trade it times…
Freyhofer Genealogy
This is what started it all for me - the original Freyhofer genealogy, compiled by Louise Freyhofer in 1937, given to me by my grandmother Louise Weiler Wagner when I was about 10. DOWNLOAD PDF
Young Shirley Jones recording
In 1950, my grandfather, Homer Wagner taped the Western District Chorus concert held at Canonsburg High School (Pennsylvania) where some of his children attended school. One of the soloists was a young Shirley Jones (of Broadway Musical and Partridge Family fame), a sophomore in high school. Her voice, even as a teenager, was astounding. The Daily Courier, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 27 Apr 1950, Thu • Page 20 Born in 1934 in Charleroi, she grew up as…
The Climb from Salt Lick by Nancy L. Abrams
The Climb from Salt Lick: A Memoir of Appalachia In the mid-1970s, Nancy L. Abrams, a young photojournalist from the Midwest, plunges into life as a small-town journalist in West Virginia. She befriends the hippies on the commune one mountaintop over, rents a cabin in beautiful Salt Lick Valley, and falls in love with a local boy, wrestling to balance the demands of a job and a personal life. She learns how to survive in…
Tapes for Grandpa
In 1972 my grandfather, Homer Henry Wagner, was in the hospital after a heart attack. I wasn't allowed to visit him because I was only 8. So I recorded two reel to reel tapes for him to listen to. I sang songs, told jokes, played cello, and recited poetry. Diana Thornton at Cheat Lake camp with grandfather Homer Henry Wagner: My mom, Lois, helped me and sang along with me on some of them. Diana…
Earthquake in SW Virginia
Earthquakes are actually common in Virginia. Here's one that would affected my Thornton ancestors in Pulaski County: May 3, 1897. Centered at Radford, where a few chimneys were wrecked and plaster fell from walls, and chimneys were damaged at nearby Pulaski and Roanoke. Felt in most of southwest Virginia and as far south as Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Estimated magnitude This was a prelude to The Big One. ((Division of Geology and Mineral Resources -…
Are we related to John Philip Sousa?
Yes! We ARE related to the famous American conductor and composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Sousa is best known for composing the marches "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the USA) and "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps). John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, , the third of ten children of João António de Sousa (John Anthony Sousa) who was born in Spain, though of Portuguese ancestry, and…
Forest Grove Cemetery, Canton, Missouri
Forest Grove Cemetery is where my grandparents, Homer Henry Wagner and Louise Adelaide Weiler, and other family, are buried. It is in Canton, Missouri, our Wagner hometown, high on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Numerous generations and extended family were born, lived, and died there. Above: Paul Wagner at his parents' (Homer and Louise Wagner) grave. The location site is circled: Articles about some of our ancestors and relatives buried here: I found…
Introducing O Muse! Magazine
I started a digital magazine! Over the last year, Covid shut down most of my music industry business. A couple months ago I came up with this idea as a way to take my business in a new direction, and self promote my design, photography and art director skills. I just released the first issue today. It is kind of a family and friends edition, with features from my aunt Elly Wagner, cousin Morgan Wagner…
Snowville by Rev. James T. Taylor
by Rev. James T. Taylor (ca 1912) About a hundred years ago , a village called Snowville on Little River, Pulaski County, Va. miles south of Radford, was started. This village was called "The Foundry" at first, with the post office named Humility. In those days there were no postage stamps nor envelopes; the letters were folded up, a small quantity of sealing wax held them together; the money, ten cents, was paid to the…