1. Logan Co, WV; Marriage Registry; Vol #__(1927); Page 16 ; Line #22; WV Archives Website.
Russell Brown, age 22; born in WV; single; miner; colored; living at Orvill, WV; son of Charles Brown
and Martha Brown; married on 3 Feb 1927 in Logan Co, WV; Marietta Franklin; age 18; born in AL;
single; colored; living at Orvill, WV; daughter of Clarence and Lutrish Hosey.
2. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Russell Brown; age 42; born in WV; married; Negro; tipple man for coal company; head of
household.
3. FindAGrave.com Website; submitted by Louise D.; 6 May 2022; maintained mmel.
"Russell R. Brown
Birth 1906
Death 1988 (aged 81–82)
Burial Woodmere Memorial Park
Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA
Plot Section X
Memorial ID 239509290"
4.. "Folk Music of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields"; Website (Russel, wife and two childred
picture shown)
""On 27 May 1940, folklorist George Korson was at Yolyn on Rum Creek in Logan County and he recorded Russell Brown singing Union Blues. Korson wrote this about Mr. Brown’s song in his book Coal Dust on the Fiddle:"“Sung by Russell Brown who introduced it at a 1935 Labor Day celebration at Charleston, West Virginia, where John L. Lewis was the speaker.
" ‘I was lying in bed thinking about the union and the words came to me. I hopped right out of bed and wrote them down.’—Russell Brown.”
"Russell R. Brown, the son of the late Charlie and Mattie Brown, was born on January 10, 1904 at Winona, on Keeney Creek in the Nuttall district of Fayette County in West Virginia, where his father was a coal miner. The acclaimed historian Carter G. Woodson, who was the son of enslaved parents and who has been called “the father of black history,” taught there from 1897 to 1900 at a school established by Black miners for their children; several of Russell Brown’s older siblings were in school during those years so it’s likely they were taught by Dr. Woodson, who himself at the age of seventeen had begun working as a miner there in the Nuttall district before being able to attend high school in Huntington. Russell Brown completed three years of high school and all his siblings were well-educated for that time and place. He moved to Logan County, WV in the early 1920s, where met and married Marietta Franklin.
"-- written by Gloria Goodwin Raheja, March 2021
"New Information on Russell Brown
"Little else was known about Russell, but in 2021 I was able to locate some of Russell's family, including a son and granddaughter living in Huntington, WV, who were able to fill in some gaps.
"According to Russell's son, Clarence, and Clarence's daughter, Christina, Russell worked 35 years as a tipple man in various locations in Logan, including the community of Yolyn on Rum Creek, for the Buffalo Chilton Coal Company. Upon retiring from the coal company, he worked as a baggage and ticket man for the Trailways Bus Company in Logan.
"After leaving Logan to be closer to his children in Huntington, he became very active with many civic organizations, especially ministering to the poor with the Stella Fuller Settlement House, and serving as a foster parent at the Huntington State Hospital.
"Clarence described his dad as having “adventurous” mind, and that he was always coming up with new projects with which to get involved. “He’d get a little church meeting going somewhere, or he’d have an idea to start a small store in a vacant building on the block. He was always thinking about some activity.”
"Both Clarence and Christina related stories of how Russell, always dressed in a complete suit and nice hat, would walk around his neighborhood in Huntington, just checking things out. He’d often stop and sit on Clarence’s porch unannounced. If Clarence or the grand kids would notice him on the porch swing, they’d check on him and he’d usually say something along the lines of, “I’m just taking a rest before I walk back home.”
"Christina described her grandfather as a very peaceful man. He didn’t get upset at anything. He’d go through the day humming songs and always had a gentle demeanor about him--"he was content," she told me. Sometimes he’d ask Christina if she knew the melody he was humming, saying he was not sure where it came from, but it was just on his mind.
"When asked about his musical abilities, Christina and Clarence both said that he wrote several songs, mostly religious hymn-type songs, and poems, but that it was not something he did a lot of. The family knew of his Union Blues composition, and knew that it was recognized by John L. Lewis at the union meeting in Charleston, but only through a few snippets of the lyrics Russell had written down on lined notebook paper some years ago, and through hearing him sing/hum the melody every now and again around the house. They had no idea the performance was recorded and was available in the Library of Congress until Chris informed them back in February of 2021. After listening to the recording, Christina replied with excitement, "that's my grandfather's voice...that's my grandfather!"
"Russell Brown died on 5 December 1988 at Huntington, West Virginia, and is buried beside his wife, Marietta, in Woodmere Memorial Park.
"--written by Chris Haddox, June 2021
"Sources:
"Raheja’s research for her book Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields.
"Korson, George. 1943. Coal Dust on the Fiddle: Songs and Stories of the Bituminous Miners. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
"The George Korson Collection, 1913-1975 [audio recordings and manuscript notes]. Library of Congress AFC 2003/011.
"Goggin, Jacqueline. 1993. Carter G. Woodson: A Life in Black History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
"Chris Haddox conversations with Christina Brown via telephone (she in Huntington, WV), March 22, 2021, and subsequent conversations in person in Huntington, May 8, 2021.
"Chris Haddox conversations with Clarence Brown via telephone (he in Huntington, WV), May 18, 2021...."
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Mary Brown; age 36; born in AL; married; Negro; in household of husband, Russell R.
Brown.
2. FindAGrave.com Website; submitted by Louise D.; 6 May 2022; maintained mmel.
"Marietta Brown
Birth 12 May 1912
Death 14 Mar 2001 (aged 88)
Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA
Burial Woodmere Memorial Park
Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA
Plot Section X
Memorial ID 54205543"Additional Information Posted;
"(Mar 18, 2001)
MARIETTA BROWN, 88, of Huntington, widow of Russell R. Brown Sr., died Wednesday in St. Mary?s Hospital. She was a homemaker. Survivors include three daughters, India McCullough, Charlene Martin and Janice Henry, all of Huntington; four sons, Russell R. Brown Jr., of New Jersey, and Clarence E. Brown, Fred D. Brown and Charles E. Brown, all of Huntington; and one sister, Eunice Mae Glaspie of Huntington. Funeral 1 p.m. Tuesday at Calvary Baptist Church; burial in Woodmere Memorial Park, Huntington."
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Russell Brown Jr; age 19; born in WV; Negro; employed in hospital. in household of father,
Russell R. Brown.
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Fred D. Brown; age 15; born in WV; Negro; in household of father, Russell R. Brown.
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Clarence Brown; age 13; born in WV; Negro; in household of father, Russell R. Brown.
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Charles E. Brown; age 4; born in WV; Negro; in household of father, Russell R. Brown.
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as India Brown; age 17; born in WV; Negro; in household of father, Russell R. Brown.
1. 1950 Census, Logan Co, WV; Kistler; taken 7 Apr 1950; Sheet Number 28; Dwelling #195.
Listed as Charlene Brown; age 11; born in WV; Negro; in household of father, Russell R. Brown.
1. Raleigh Co, WV; Marriage Records; Vol #--(1923); Page 438; WV Archives Website.
Ely Jiles Cole; age 42; born un Buchanan Co, VA; Mohegan, WV; married on 31 Mar 1923 in
Beckley, WV; Pliney Ellen Adkins; age 37; born in Lincoln Co, WV; living at Mabscott, WV.
1. Logan Co, WV; Marriage Registry; VOL #__(1915); Page 4. Line #21; WV Archives Website.
J,H, Adkins; age 44; born in Wayne Co, WV; divorced; living in Logan Co, WV; laborer; son of Merritt
and Susan (Elkins) Adkins; married on 8 Jan 1915 in Logan, VA; Perlina E. Watts; age 32; born in
Lincoln Co, WV; divorced (sic?) living in Logan Co, WV; daughter of D.J. and Polly (Adkins) Watts.
2. Raleigh Co, WV; Marriage Records; Vol #--(1923); Page 438; WV Archives Website.
Ely Jiles Cole; age 42; born un Buchanan Co, VA; Mohegan, WV; married on 31 Mar 1923 in
Beckley, WV; Pliney Ellen Adkins; age 37; born in Lincoln Co, WV; living at Mabscott, WV.
3. FindAGrave.com Website; submitted by Danny Ray Cook; 26 Apr 2012; maintained by Brenda
(Donathen) Bryant.
"Paulina Ellen Watts Cole
Birth 15 Feb 1882
Lincoln County, West Virginia, USA
Death 13 Feb 1957 (aged 74)
Madison, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Burial Jasper Workman Cemetery
Bald Knob, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Memorial ID 89175730"
4.. "Folk Music of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields"; Website.
"Paulina Ellen Watts Adkins Cole was identified only as Mrs. Ely Cole when West Virginia professor Louis Chappell recorded her unaccompanied singing on 14 August 1940, in Big Creek, Logan County. She sang a fairly full version of Maid Freed from the Gallows that she called The Hangman’s Song (Child ballad #95), and hers is close to a version that the collector Patrick Gainer found at Dry Creek in Raleigh County; she lived in Raleigh County for some time so she might have learned it there. She also sang fragmentary versions of The Cruel Brother (Child #11), Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender (Child #73), Pretty Polly, and a verse or two identified as The Miner’s Song. On that day in 1940 she sang a few verses of The Lowlands of Holland, a song dating back to the seventeenth century about a woman’s husband being conscripted into the navy to fight on the seas; it’s been found in Scotland, England and Ireland and like the Child ballads it traveled with eighteenth century emigrants to the New World."Little is known about Mrs. Cole’s life. Often known as Pliney, she was born in West Virginia in 1882, mostly likely in the Laurel Hill district of Lincoln County; her parents were there in 1880 where her father Jackson Watts was a farmer, and in 1900 she was still with them there. In 1915 she married J.H. Adkins in Logan County and in 1923 she married Eli Giles Cole, who had been living at Fireco in Raleigh County and working as a laborer for the Virginian Railroad; it was a second marriage for him as well. In 1930 they were living at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, where Mr. Cole worked as a coal miner. In 1940 they were in Big Creek, Logan County and on his 1942 draft card he indicated that he was a farmer there. He died on 4 January 1949 and was buried at the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County. Paulina Cole died on 13 February 1957 and is buried there as well.
" —Gloria Goodwin Raheja, February 2021.
"Sources: Raheja’s research for her book Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields, assistance from Chris Haddox in locating Mrs. Cole’s grave, and the Louis Chappell Collection at West Virginia University’s West Virginia and Regional History Center.
"A Visit to Mrs. Cole's Grave"On Friday, May 7, 2021, I made the trek to find Mrs. Cole's grave. Ronald Nelson of Danville, WV, provided excellent directions to the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County, WV. Ronald was an engineer for the railroad and said that the trains had to stop near that cemetery while awaiting permission to proceed to the Madison/Danville train yards. It was during those stops that Ronald took time to wander through both the older and newer sections of the cemetery.
"Travelling Rt. 85 south out of Madison, I went through Van, where both of my grandmothers had taught school, then past Wharton, and soon made the right hand turn onto Jasper Workman Branch.
"Just as Ronald had indicated, there was a small bridge across the creek, then a railroad crossing, then a dirt road would leave from the right and lead me up the hill to the cemetery."
"The cemetery sits on a little knoll above the railroad tracks. As is the case with many of these old cemeteries, the trees are larger than many in the surrounding forest, making for a very pleasant scene. It didn’t’ take long to locate Mrs. Cole’s grave, as there were not a great number of graves to inspect. Once I found her, I set up my chair, took out the banjo and proceeded to offer up a little tune, the Twin Sisters, in honor of her and her musical endeavors."
"
Mrs. Ely (Paulina) ColePaulina Ellen Watts Adkins Cole was identified only as Mrs. Ely Cole when West Virginia professor Louis Chappell recorded her unaccompanied singing on 14 August 1940, in Big Creek, Logan County. She sang a fairly full version of Maid Freed from the Gallows that she called The Hangman’s Song (Child ballad #95), and hers is close to a version that the collector Patrick Gainer found at Dry Creek in Raleigh County; she lived in Raleigh County for some time so she might have learned it there. She also sang fragmentary versions of The Cruel Brother (Child #11), Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender (Child #73), Pretty Polly, and a verse or two identified as The Miner’s Song. On that day in 1940 she sang a few verses of The Lowlands of Holland, a song dating back to the seventeenth century about a woman’s husband being conscripted into the navy to fight on the seas; it’s been found in Scotland, England and Ireland and like the Child ballads it traveled with eighteenth century emigrants to the New World.
Little is known about Mrs. Cole’s life. Often known as Pliney, she was born in West Virginia in 1882, mostly likely in the Laurel Hill district of Lincoln County; her parents were there in 1880 where her father Jackson Watts was a farmer, and in 1900 she was still with them there. In 1915 she married J.H. Adkins in Logan County and in 1923 she married Eli Giles Cole, who had been living at Fireco in Raleigh County and working as a laborer for the Virginian Railroad; it was a second marriage for him as well. In 1930 they were living at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, where Mr. Cole worked as a coal miner. In 1940 they were in Big Creek, Logan County and on his 1942 draft card he indicated that he was a farmer there. He died on 4 January 1949 and was buried at the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County. Paulina Cole died on 13 February 1957 and is buried there as well.
—Gloria Goodwin Raheja, February 2021.
Sources: Raheja’s research for her book Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields, assistance from Chris Haddox in locating Mrs. Cole’s grave, and the Louis Chappell Collection at West Virginia University’s West Virginia and Regional History Center.
A Visit to Mrs. Cole's GraveOn Friday, May 7, 2021, I made the trek to find Mrs. Cole's grave. Ronald Nelson of Danville, WV, provided excellent directions to the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County, WV. Ronald was an engineer for the railroad and said that the trains had to stop near that cemetery while awaiting permission to proceed to the Madison/Danville train yards. It was during those stops that Ronald took time to wander through both the older and newer sections of the cemetery.
Travelling Rt. 85 south out of Madison, I went through Van, where both of my grandmothers had taught school, then past Wharton, and soon made the right hand turn onto Jasper Workman Branch.
Just as Ronald had indicated, there was a small bridge across the creek, then a railroad crossing, then a dirt road would leave from the right and lead me up the hill to the cemetery.
Driving to Mrs. Cole's grave in the Jasper Workman CemeteryThe cemetery sits on a little knoll above the railroad tracks. As is the case with many of these old cemeteries, the trees are larger than many in the surrounding forest, making for a very pleasant scene. It didn’t’ take long to locate Mrs. Cole’s grave, as there were not a great number of graves to inspect. Once I found her, I set up my chair, took out the banjo and proceeded to offer up a little tune, the Twin Sisters, in honor of her and her musical endeavors.
"Playing the Twin Sisters at Mrs. Cole's grave
"Listen to Mrs. Cole sing The Hangman's Song for Louis Watson Chappell in 1940
Hangman's Song by Mrs. Ely 'Paulina' Cole"- recording used with permission from the West Virginia and Regional History Center
" Listen to Mrs. Cole's complete collection:
Mrs. Ely Cole Music Collection"
1. Logan Co, WV; Marriage Registry; VOL #__(1915); Page 4. Line #21; WV Archives Website.
J,H, Adkins; age 44; born in Wayne Co, WV; divorced; living in Logan Co, WV; laborer; son of Merritt
and Susan (Elkins) Adkins; married on 8 Jan 1915 in Logan, VA; Perlina E. Watts; age 32; born in
Lincoln Co, WV; divorced (sic?) living in Logan Co, WV; daughter of D.J. and Polly (Adkins) Watts.
2. FindAGrave.com Website; submitted by Danny Ray Cook; 26 Apr 2012; maintained by Brenda
(Donathen) Bryant.
"James Henderson Adkins
Birth 4 Mar 1870
Branchland, Lincoln County, West Virginia, USA
Death 19 Sep 1943 (aged 73)
Bald Knob, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Burial Jasper Workman Cemetery
Bald Knob, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Memorial ID 89182317"
1. Logan Co, WV; Marriage Registry; VOL #__(1915); Page 4. Line #21; WV Archives Website.
J,H, Adkins; age 44; born in Wayne Co, WV; divorced; living in Logan Co, WV; laborer; son of Merritt
and Susan (Elkins) Adkins; married on 8 Jan 1915 in Logan, VA; Perlina E. Watts; age 32; born in
Lincoln Co, WV; divorced (sic?) living in Logan Co, WV; daughter of D.J. and Polly (Adkins) Watts.
2. Raleigh Co, WV; Marriage Records; Vol #--(1923); Page 438; WV Archives Website.
Ely Jiles Cole; age 42; born un Buchanan Co, VA; Mohegan, WV; married on 31 Mar 1923 in
Beckley, WV; Pliney Ellen Adkins; age 37; born in Lincoln Co, WV; living at Mabscott, WV.
3. FindAGrave.com Website; submitted by Danny Ray Cook; 26 Apr 2012; maintained by Brenda
(Donathen) Bryant.
"Paulina Ellen Watts Cole
Birth 15 Feb 1882
Lincoln County, West Virginia, USA
Death 13 Feb 1957 (aged 74)
Madison, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Burial Jasper Workman Cemetery
Bald Knob, Boone County, West Virginia, USA
Memorial ID 89175730"
4.. "Folk Music of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields"; Website.
"Paulina Ellen Watts Adkins Cole was identified only as Mrs. Ely Cole when West Virginia professor Louis Chappell recorded her unaccompanied singing on 14 August 1940, in Big Creek, Logan County. She sang a fairly full version of Maid Freed from the Gallows that she called The Hangman’s Song (Child ballad #95), and hers is close to a version that the collector Patrick Gainer found at Dry Creek in Raleigh County; she lived in Raleigh County for some time so she might have learned it there. She also sang fragmentary versions of The Cruel Brother (Child #11), Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender (Child #73), Pretty Polly, and a verse or two identified as The Miner’s Song. On that day in 1940 she sang a few verses of The Lowlands of Holland, a song dating back to the seventeenth century about a woman’s husband being conscripted into the navy to fight on the seas; it’s been found in Scotland, England and Ireland and like the Child ballads it traveled with eighteenth century emigrants to the New World."Little is known about Mrs. Cole’s life. Often known as Pliney, she was born in West Virginia in 1882, mostly likely in the Laurel Hill district of Lincoln County; her parents were there in 1880 where her father Jackson Watts was a farmer, and in 1900 she was still with them there. In 1915 she married J.H. Adkins in Logan County and in 1923 she married Eli Giles Cole, who had been living at Fireco in Raleigh County and working as a laborer for the Virginian Railroad; it was a second marriage for him as well. In 1930 they were living at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, where Mr. Cole worked as a coal miner. In 1940 they were in Big Creek, Logan County and on his 1942 draft card he indicated that he was a farmer there. He died on 4 January 1949 and was buried at the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County. Paulina Cole died on 13 February 1957 and is buried there as well.
" —Gloria Goodwin Raheja, February 2021.
"Sources: Raheja’s research for her book Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields, assistance from Chris Haddox in locating Mrs. Cole’s grave, and the Louis Chappell Collection at West Virginia University’s West Virginia and Regional History Center.
"A Visit to Mrs. Cole's Grave"On Friday, May 7, 2021, I made the trek to find Mrs. Cole's grave. Ronald Nelson of Danville, WV, provided excellent directions to the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County, WV. Ronald was an engineer for the railroad and said that the trains had to stop near that cemetery while awaiting permission to proceed to the Madison/Danville train yards. It was during those stops that Ronald took time to wander through both the older and newer sections of the cemetery.
"Travelling Rt. 85 south out of Madison, I went through Van, where both of my grandmothers had taught school, then past Wharton, and soon made the right hand turn onto Jasper Workman Branch.
"Just as Ronald had indicated, there was a small bridge across the creek, then a railroad crossing, then a dirt road would leave from the right and lead me up the hill to the cemetery."
"The cemetery sits on a little knoll above the railroad tracks. As is the case with many of these old cemeteries, the trees are larger than many in the surrounding forest, making for a very pleasant scene. It didn’t’ take long to locate Mrs. Cole’s grave, as there were not a great number of graves to inspect. Once I found her, I set up my chair, took out the banjo and proceeded to offer up a little tune, the Twin Sisters, in honor of her and her musical endeavors."
"
Mrs. Ely (Paulina) ColePaulina Ellen Watts Adkins Cole was identified only as Mrs. Ely Cole when West Virginia professor Louis Chappell recorded her unaccompanied singing on 14 August 1940, in Big Creek, Logan County. She sang a fairly full version of Maid Freed from the Gallows that she called The Hangman’s Song (Child ballad #95), and hers is close to a version that the collector Patrick Gainer found at Dry Creek in Raleigh County; she lived in Raleigh County for some time so she might have learned it there. She also sang fragmentary versions of The Cruel Brother (Child #11), Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender (Child #73), Pretty Polly, and a verse or two identified as The Miner’s Song. On that day in 1940 she sang a few verses of The Lowlands of Holland, a song dating back to the seventeenth century about a woman’s husband being conscripted into the navy to fight on the seas; it’s been found in Scotland, England and Ireland and like the Child ballads it traveled with eighteenth century emigrants to the New World.
Little is known about Mrs. Cole’s life. Often known as Pliney, she was born in West Virginia in 1882, mostly likely in the Laurel Hill district of Lincoln County; her parents were there in 1880 where her father Jackson Watts was a farmer, and in 1900 she was still with them there. In 1915 she married J.H. Adkins in Logan County and in 1923 she married Eli Giles Cole, who had been living at Fireco in Raleigh County and working as a laborer for the Virginian Railroad; it was a second marriage for him as well. In 1930 they were living at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, where Mr. Cole worked as a coal miner. In 1940 they were in Big Creek, Logan County and on his 1942 draft card he indicated that he was a farmer there. He died on 4 January 1949 and was buried at the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County. Paulina Cole died on 13 February 1957 and is buried there as well.
—Gloria Goodwin Raheja, February 2021.
Sources: Raheja’s research for her book Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields, assistance from Chris Haddox in locating Mrs. Cole’s grave, and the Louis Chappell Collection at West Virginia University’s West Virginia and Regional History Center.
A Visit to Mrs. Cole's GraveOn Friday, May 7, 2021, I made the trek to find Mrs. Cole's grave. Ronald Nelson of Danville, WV, provided excellent directions to the Jasper Workman Cemetery at Bald Knob in Boone County, WV. Ronald was an engineer for the railroad and said that the trains had to stop near that cemetery while awaiting permission to proceed to the Madison/Danville train yards. It was during those stops that Ronald took time to wander through both the older and newer sections of the cemetery.
Travelling Rt. 85 south out of Madison, I went through Van, where both of my grandmothers had taught school, then past Wharton, and soon made the right hand turn onto Jasper Workman Branch.
Just as Ronald had indicated, there was a small bridge across the creek, then a railroad crossing, then a dirt road would leave from the right and lead me up the hill to the cemetery.
Driving to Mrs. Cole's grave in the Jasper Workman CemeteryThe cemetery sits on a little knoll above the railroad tracks. As is the case with many of these old cemeteries, the trees are larger than many in the surrounding forest, making for a very pleasant scene. It didn’t’ take long to locate Mrs. Cole’s grave, as there were not a great number of graves to inspect. Once I found her, I set up my chair, took out the banjo and proceeded to offer up a little tune, the Twin Sisters, in honor of her and her musical endeavors.
"Playing the Twin Sisters at Mrs. Cole's grave
"Listen to Mrs. Cole sing The Hangman's Song for Louis Watson Chappell in 1940
Hangman's Song by Mrs. Ely 'Paulina' Cole"- recording used with permission from the West Virginia and Regional History Center
" Listen to Mrs. Cole's complete collection:
Mrs. Ely Cole Music Collection"
1. Wayne Co, WV; Marriage Registry; Vol #__(1867); Page 28; Line #5; WV Archives Website.
Daniel J. Watts; age 20; born and living in Wayne Co, WV; single; farmer; son of Daniel and Peggy
Watts; married on 22 Aug 1867 at the meeting house on the head of beech fork; Polly Ann Adkins;
age 17; born and living in Wayne Co, WV; single; daughter of John L. and Nancy Adkins.
1. Wayne Co, WV; Marriage Registry; Vol #__(1867); Page 28; Line #5; WV Archives Website.
Daniel J. Watts; age 20; born and living in Wayne Co, WV; single; farmer; son of Daniel and Peggy
Watts; married on 22 Aug 1867 at the meeting house on the head of beech fork; Polly Ann Adkins;
age 17; born and living in Wayne Co, WV; single; daughter of John L. and Nancy Adkins.