These stories were all written by my Great Grandfather, Homer, a week after I was born in 1983. When my grandfather, Daniel Lee, passed, I was given a copy by my Aunt Janie. I plan to write a series of his stories. The first one sets the stage, and gives some history of the area he lived in. This is the 2nd in the series. –DM
At the edge of town stood an old two-story building that looked like it had once been used as a store or a hotel. It never did have anybody living in it as far back as I could remember. Everybody in town called it “The Haunted House”. We were afraid to go near it.
As the story goes, two brothers John and Albert Spicer and their brother-in-law Charley Webster, went into the house to divide some money they had stolen. They got into a fight and John got shot and died. Charley got his throat cut from ear to ear, but lived. And Albert disappeared with the money and was never heard of again.
One day several of us boys got to talking about this old haunted house. We decided to go into it some night when we could get up enough nerve. One night when the moon was about half full we dared each other to go looking for a ghost.
We went in the double front doors, having to push real hard to open them. The hinges were rusted and began to squeak; the squeaking made us nervous. The top hinge broke and threw the door sideways, leaving just enough room for us to squeeze through one at a time. We all got inside but only had a flashlight and a candle for light. We began to look around when a board in the floor broke and my foot slipped down through the hole. I dropped the flashlight and broke it. After pulling my foot out of the hole we were all scared to death and just stood there real quiet. All we could hear was the beating of our hearts, and they were going real fast. All at once we heard something thump, thump, thump. The noise kept getting louder and louder. We got scared and ran towards the door quicker than a wet cat.
One boy tripped over something and fell. He thought the ghost had him, and began to holler like he was bilging killed. We all started out the door at the same time. My brother, Milton, was the last one to get out. He got his pants caught on a nail that was sticking out of the door, and began to cry and holler; he thought the ghost had a hold of his pants. He finally broke loose.
When we got outside we saw a big white horse with a witch riding on its back coming towards us. We ran around the side of the building and hid in some tall grass and weeds. When the horse came up in front of the building it stopped. The witched hollered out, “Haw, haw, haw, I will get you the next time.” and went on its way.
There we were in the tall grass and weeds with our mouths open and our eyes as big as half-dollars, thinking “there wouldn’t be any next time.” We ran home as fast as we could get there.
The next day the good Dr. Backus was laughing about scaring a bunch of boys over at the haunted house as he was on his way home from seeing a sick man on down the road. He never knew about the poison ivy and chiggers we got!
These stories were all written by my Great Grandfather, Homer, a week after I was born in 1983. When my grandfather, Daniel Lee, passed, I was given a copy by my Aunt Janie. I plan to write a series of his stories. This first one sets the stage, and gives some history of the area he lived in. To be honest it’s a little boring, but I promise they get better. But you have to establish the base first. –DM
My name is Homer Davis Meyers, and I was born on June 14th, 1907. I wrote these stories down and have passed them on to my family. My great grandson Daniel Scott Meyers is publishing these. He is going to use a little artistic license to fill in the gaps, but everything herein is true and honest, I think….
My first recollections of South Charleston are of the winter of 1913, having moved up the Kanawha river with my parents and brothers and sisters. If my memory is right after all these years, South Charleston was very small, unincorporated town, having at that time less than one hundred houses, including the U.S. Government houses at Lock No. Six on the Kanawha river. The post office was on Second Avenue near the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad depot.
The only school in town was a two-room wooden building on Seventh Avenue between “D” street and MacCorkle Avenue when we first moved there. A new four-room schoolhouse was being built on the corner of “C” Street and 5th Avenue. Several years later four more rooms were added. This building was constructed of brick. I had a picture taken in 1915 of the old Central School, showing all the pupils and teachers; Walter Lynch was principal. The town’s industry consisted of two small glass plants that made window glass by hand.
The street car track ran parallel to MacCorkle Avenue from the C&O Railroad bridge to St. Albans. MacCorkle Avenue at that time was called 8th Avenue. The street car had regular stops along the line; the first stop was named Stop No. One and was on the C&O Railroad bridge.
Stop No. 2 was at the south end of the bridge
Stop No. 3 was just a little way from the overhead crossing of MacCorkle Avenue
Stop No. 4 was at Short Street
Stop No. 5 was at “A” Street
Stop No. 6 was a little west of “B” Street
Stop No. 7 was at the end of 7th Avenue
Stop No. 8 was at “E” Street
Stop No. 9 was at “G” Street
Stop No. 10 was across Davis Creek bridge in the Spring Hill area.
At one time I could say that I knew every person in town and where they lived. The majority of the people were Belgians, all working in the two window glass factories–The Banner Window Glass Factory which was located where F.M.C is now, and The Dunkirk Factory at the end of “A” Street at the Kanawha river. In the years before World War I, several other companies moved to town. Rollins Chemical, E.C. Klepstine Chemical, West Vaco Chemical, and Warner Kelpstine Chemical. Rollins Chemical was then sold to Barium Chemical and later to Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical), Union Carbide also bought E.C. Klepstine Chemical. West Vaco would be sold to F.M.C.
South Charleston was incorporated in 1917. My father, Daniel Summer Meyers, was the first Chief of Police and my uncle, Homer A. Dunbar was one of the first Councilmen. The Council had their meetings in the Banner Glass Factory office. R.C. “Bob” Jarrold was the first mayor. I am not sure of the names of the other town officers; but I think they were Henry Oaks, Joe Henson, William Pence, Jake pierce, and Quince Jones. At about that time the post office was moved to the old school building on 7th Avenue.
MacCorkle Avenue was a two lane brick road ending at Davis Creek. Joe Henson had a general store and ice house on MacCorkle Avenue between “A” and “B” streets. He delivered ice with a mule and wagon. Billy Cole had a store on 7th Avenue located where the Cole Building is located now (in 1983 it was still standing, believe it is no longer there. -DM) Billy Cole was also the town plumber. Isaac George had a grocery store on MacCorkle and 7th Avenue. He would go around in the morning taking orders for groceries and deliver them by horse and wagon in the afternoon. There was a large walnut tree on 7th and “D” Street, across from Criel Mound. Ike Riley had a large dairy barn on 9th Ave between “F” and “G” Street. All land on the south side of MacCorkle Ave from Beaver Pond was pasture. Land on the north side of MacCorkle Ave from “G” Street to the ball park was planted in corn. The ball park was about where it still stands today. (This is now “Joplin Park“.) Blaine Island was all farm land!
The first firefighting equipment was a two-wheel cart with several section s of fire hose, pulled by volunteer firefighters. Several years later the town bought a brand new Model T Ford fire truck with solid rubber tires, and a hand cranked siren, all painted a bright red. It was housed in an old wooden garage on MacCorkle Avenue near “E” Street. Telephones in the early days were the old hand-cranked type party line “hoop and holler” with about ten parties per circuit.
When we moved to South Charleston in 1913 we had no city water for several months. Our water was from the house roof, caugt in barrels. We had to carry our drinking water from a well at Lock Six to MacCorkle Avenue. Everybody in town had a well but us. We didn’t have one because the city water was soon to be piped in. Our home is still standing–a light brick house on the corner of “G” Street and MacCorkle Avenue. I watched MacCorkle Ave being paved with red brick in 1916.
When World War I started, the U.S. Navy started building the Naval Ordnance plant. When it was about finished the Armorplate plate was started. I remember seeing a large billboard with large letters, “10,000 MEN WANTED. 33-1/3 CENTS PER HOUR”. The town began to boom. I remember seeing an auctioneer auction off lots from 7th Ave to the railroad. He stood in a two-horse wagon with about every man, boy, and dog in town following along behind. We had three banks; The First National, The Bank of South Charleston, and The Day and Night Bank. The street car track was doubled from the C&O railroad bridge to Beaver pond. The street car company had a freight car that hauled freight from Charleston on down the line to St. Albans and was the only way we could get anything from Charleston.
Small carnivals would set up around the Indian Mound. Large carnivals and circuses would set up on the north side of MacCorkle between “D” street and the Banner Glass Company.
The first doctor in town was Dr. Backus, followed by Dr. Dunn, then Doctors O’Dell, Lanbert, and Blagg. During the influenza epidemic in 1918 the little Presbyterian church was used as a hospital. That church stood where Union Carbide offices are now.
Some people called those days “the good old days.” Maybe they were. I could spend a quarter and have a full day’s fun; $.05 for a street car fare to Charleston, $.05 for a hot dog, $.05 for a Coke, $.05 for a bag of salted peanuts from Woolworth’s 5&10 store, and $.05 for street car fare home!
I remained in South Charleston until I retired from Union Carbide in 1967 and moved south to Florida, where my sons and there families had already moved to.
Happy Wednesday! This is Dan recapping our day today.
We started out our day at The Vineyard at Hershey! It was an awesome place to spend the night, and had a large field filled with fireflies that the boys chased all night long. If you’re ever in the area check out this little winery and brewery, as they have some amazing concerts. Some artists that are coming up later this summer are Eve6, 3 Doors Down, Wallflowers, and Tonic. Pretty impressive for such a small vineyard. They set up the stage in the pasture, and it looks like it is an awesome venue. We cooked a fantastic breakfast of bacon and eggs, and took advantage of having no where to be and got a really late start to our day.
We decided to drive back over to the Antique Automobile Club of America. This was a place that is very special to our family. My grandfather, Pop, was a Grand National Judge at their HUGE show every October. Pop rebuilt two 1930 Model A’s, and a ’67 Mustang, he taught me so much about this old cars. Anyways, they sell commemorative bricks for the entrance, and I could think of no better way to honor him than a brick at this, his favorite place. We wrapped up the purchase and got back on the skoolie.
Jennifer and I were discussing what the day would look like, as the forecast called for another day of rain. We’ve been dealing with rain/overcast for a week now. We have been figuring out indoor activities, and other things to do; but these outdoor activities cost $$$. Since we have no income, we are trying to stick to our budget, so we knew that we needed to keep the costs down. The locals were recommending an arcade/go cart track; but entrance was $18.50 each plus the cost of the games. We came up with a great idea! Let’s look up a hotel with a pool. Thankfully, we have a discount code to Hilton Hotels (shout out to our special buddy). Jennifer found a room at a Home2Suites for $74, it had an indoor pool! We love the Home2 brand. Breakfast, S’more’s at night, pool, and a HOT SHOWER! We loaded up the skoolie and we were off.
We arrived in Lancaster, PA and Jennifer went to check us in, while I parked. She came out and I could see the disappointment on her face. The pool was closed! Well dang, that was the whole reason we booked the room. Oh well, we decided a hot shower, s’more’s, and free breakfast was worth it. We packed an overnight bag, and headed to the room. As we cut through the lobby, I inquired as to the time of the s’more’s. It was then that we found out this location doesn’t do s’more’s. SAY WHAT! This is inconceivable. Oh well, hot showers and breakfast was still a pretty good deal. As soon as we got to the room, Kaden jumped into the shower. Within 20 minutes we all had showers, and I even shaved! No not the whole beard, just a little clean up.
We explored the hotel. Home2 is a really great flag, and I recommend checking one out if you haven’t. In the lobby they have board games and cards. Walker smoked mom and dad in the game “Life”, while Kaden played on the computer. We played a couple rounds of fierce Slap Jack, and put together a puzzle. Jennifer saw there was a Chick-fil-a right across the street, and she had enough points to get us an 8 piece and a spicy chicken sandwich for free. We decided to splurged and eat out for only the 2nd time this trip (not counting the buckets of ice cream we’ve eaten along the route).
We enjoyed some good old southern cuisine, and that delicious Lemonade. The boys went out on the play ground, and Jen and I enjoyed some quiet time. Jen went out to help Kaden put on his shoes, and THEN. IT. HAPPENED. The family at the table next to me were getting their food delivered, and the mother said “This is our first time eating CFA!”. EXCUSE ME, man I realized we weren’t in the south any longer. I had to watch and see their reaction; as how often do you get to witness this?
Father: He scarfed down his food. It could have been dog food and it wouldn’t have mattered. His sandwich and fries were gone in less than 3 minutes.
Daughter: She was a little to young, with too immature of a palate to comprehend the divine moment she was partaking in.
Mother: about the third nugget in, she paused. The pause you take when you have a revelation, a break through. She sat there dumbfounded for what seemed like an hour, but was truly only a few seconds. She looked up, and to no one in particular said “This is it, wow!”.
We sometimes forget how blessed we are to have Jesus chicken just about everywhere, except you Titusville. Seriously, how does Edgewater have a CFA and not Titusville? When was your first time to experience CFA? Are you a zealot?
Is it considered a midlife crisis if it has been your dream since middle school?
The boys played quietly in the corner. They have been angels while we went line by line through the contract. Jennifer paid attention, nodded at the appropriate times, but I could tell by her glassed over eyes that she was mentally checked out. We were in a beautiful real estate office a block from the river. The room was filled with a tempered excitement of new adventures, partnered with a relief of selling off a business that had provided for a wonderful family.
This not-a-midlife-crisis was about to become a reality. All of the walk-throughs, the sit-downs, the dreaming, the planning, came to a crescendo in this moment. The terms would suffice, only a few more lines needed correction. We would meet again later and actually enter into this agreement, legally.
Jennifer and I stepped outside with the kids, took them down by the river. As the water lapped lazily along the shoreline, we told the boys…
Let me introduce myself. I am Dan, well, my friends call me Twinkle Toes. I’m married to Jennifer, the love of my life. I have two amazing boys, Kaden and Walker. Kaden is 4 and is an adventurous spirit. He has some health issues (hypothyroidism, apraxia, celiac) but attacks life with a joy I wish we could all exude. Walker is 7 and is the most polite, studious, and athletic kid you will ever meet. He looks at life with an appreciation for doing what is right. My wife, Jennifer, well there simply aren’t enough words in the English language that describe how amazing she is. She’s the most involved and active mother you’ll ever meet. A wonderful and encouraging partner, I couldn’t find a better person to call my bride. Then there’s me. A 35 year old with the maturity level of a 16 year old, I have a positive outlook on life, and will lend a helping hand anywhere I can.
This story really begins in August of 2018 when I had knee surgery, a complete replacement of the ACL, two meniscus tears, and a few other letters of the alphabet thrown in for good measure. I was on the shelf for 12 weeks. I hadn’t been out of a job for this long since I was thirteen years old. I began my young career at a company called PatCo (not PetCo) Electronics. We built the “hot boxes” that let you jumpstart a vehicle without another vehicle present. From there I got a job as a dishwasher, handwashing dishes at a BBQ restaurant at fourteen years old. My career took me to a few other jobs along the way: bus boy, kitchen boy at an all-girls camp, manager of a cigar shop, customer service, order entry. I finally landed as a member of the leadership team at a 5-Star 5-Diamond resort. This was a dream job. I always loved the hospitality industry, particularly the culinary and restaurant side. At the time of my surgery, I had been with the company for over ten years and was managing four of our restaurants.
So here I was, a workaholic now forced to have some down time. How would I fill the time? Thankfully, it was football season, so that occupied most weekends. I travelled to a dozen or so games over the season (a personal record). I helped around the house. My wife runs the pumpkin patch at our church, and I helped with that. I spent a lot of quality time with my boys and wife. Is this what people who have a “normal” job feel like? Weekends for fun, evenings after school to hang out. This was awesome.
A few years ago, my mom gave Jennifer and I the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” You’ve probably seen the Netflix show about Marie Kondo the author, but we were early adapters. We were weeks away from the birth of our second born, and during the time away from work we decided to begin decluttering. First was the closet! Wow, we pulled everything into our spacious living room, and the piles almost reached the ceiling. How did all of that fit into our closet? It was way too much for two humans to possess. We got rid of quite a bit, and then we hung the clothes back up, but with the hangers hanging backwards. In six months, we would toss anything that was still hanging backwards. Jennifer kept the decluttering going and cleaned out the kitchen. We actually had nothing sitting on the counters, and even had an empty drawer and cabinet. Can you even imagine? Over the course of the next three years we would work towards decluttering more, but while it was always something we were doing, it was more of a passive attempt. But with me out of work, the time came. We decided to be “relentless” in our attempts. We purged the boys’ room, the guest room, our closet again, every aspect of the house was taken down to what we truly needed. Man, this felt great. We were really taking this minimalist lifestyle seriously…
As we travelled to football games during my time off, we spent more time in my hometown than I have since I graduated high school. The small town of Titusville, Florida was a great place to grow up. I enjoyed bringing my family down to Titusville to let them get to know the town even better. We slowly realized we enjoyed our time in Titusville—and the community of family and friends we had there. I was back to work and getting adjusted to not having so much family time, but then an idea hatched.
Our house was already for sale, what if we relocated? We began looking for jobs in Titusville, as this idea of relocation was just starting to bubble. My wife is the Director of Family Ministries at our church. We thought maybe she could find a comparable position down there, or become a schoolteacher or work at a preschool. But for me there weren’t any comparable resorts or fine dining in the area. What would I do? Become a high school teacher? Get a job out at the Space Center?
But then there it was, one of my favorite restaurants, a ’50s style drive-in for sale. This could be it—I’d own my own restaurant. I would be able to close the business on my schedule. Spend time with the family. We could raise the boys in the restaurant. A mental picture of Kaden standing on a milk crate washing dishes in a three compartment sink, while Walker carries out trash to the dumpster played over and over in my head.
I arranged a meeting with the owners, a wonderful family. I grew up with their children. Their restaurant was an icon in the community. They were not just great people; they ran a great restaurant. They kept the place so clean, it looked as if no one had ever cooked in the kitchen. Their business reputation was impeccable. I was amazed looking through the back of house. I have spent over half of my life in kitchens, and this was one of the cleanest I’ve seen. The finances of the restaurant were also impressive.
Man, this was it.
I went home and talked it over with Jen. She was nervous and wanted to check it out for herself. So another meeting was arranged, and again the tires were kicked, and again the place impressed. Jennifer was now on board. We repeated this routine with my parents, because even though we are grown adults, we still need mom and dad to sign off. With all the boxes checked, it was time to get down to the brass tax. Negotiations commenced. The real estate agent was a dream. While technically a sellers’ agent, she worked hard to get a fair deal for all parties. We had a rough outline of an agreement. She would get the paper work printed, and we were to meet at her office in a few days.
As we stood by the river, we finally told the boys what was happening. We were very seriously considering leaving our island home and moving to Titusville. The boys were both born on St. Simons Island, an amazing community where my wife had also grown up. We had her parents and grandmother close by. The island had been voted Best Beach Town, along with a ton of other “Best of Awards”. It was truly a paradise. Could we really leave this place? We were ingrained into the fabric of this community. The previous two years, I had been named volunteer of the year. Jennifer was a staple at the elementary school Walker attended, serving on school council, volunteering regularly. We were both highly active in the church.
This was the hardest decision of our lives, but we felt we were being called to do something. The house was still on the market, but the school year was winding down. While I’m certain the boys couldn’t fully comprehend what we were telling them, they were both excited for this new adventure..
On this crazy day, we had met with the owners of the restaurant, along with the real estate agent, and hammered out all the details. We had told the boys. Jennifer and I were exhausted and ready for bed. As we laid down, we began to discuss what exactly the future would look like. We agreed to the biggest decision of our lives…and it wasn’t to buy a restaurant.
Wild Meyers 