We're halfway through June and I still haven't given you a featured Appalachian. To be honest, they are getting harder to come by with each passing month, so if you're reading this and know someone you would like featured, please don't ever hesitate to contact me. I need participation from the MountainBlood community to keep this segment going. Help a sister out.
With that rant being over, let's get to the good stuff. Our featured Appalachian this month is my paternal great-grandfather, William Hubert Griffith. To those who knew him, he was just Hubert. He was born to Clarence and Melinda Griffith in 1896 in Kanawha County, WV. His father was a coal miner, and his mother died of Bright's disease in her early twenties. His father remarried a woman named Edith, and Hubert had 8 siblings overall.
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| Hubert's father and stepmother, Clarence and Edith Griffith, approximately 1900. |
Hubert completed elementary school, and he started working in the coal mines when he was 13. I believe he worked with the horses and mules that pulled the wagons. A few years later, he fought in World War I, where he spent time in France. When he was 25, he married 15-year-old Christie Johnston. They started their family in Clay County, West Virginia. They had several children: Edith, Alice (my maternal grandmother), Freda, Ercle, Clarence (deceased), Ralph (deceased), Tommy (deceased), Bert (deceased), Charles (deceased), Wesley (deceased), Donna (deceased), Harold (deceased), Okey, Doris (died in childhood from pneumonia after being burnt in a fire), Evalee (died in childhood from an intestinal disease), and there were also twin girls who were stillborn after Christie suffered a fall. I don't dare try to count up their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, but my grandma tells me the number is in the hundreds.
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| Hubert and Christie with some of their children. |
Aside from working in the mines, Hubert also ran moonshine with his brother Ralph. Ralph would make it, and Hubert would take it to Kanawha County to distribute it. Legend has it that a revenuer caught Ralph and was shot dead for his trouble. Aside from moonshine and coal mines, Hubert also called the local barn dances.
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| Hubert in his mining clothes, smoking a pipe. |
Hubert died in 1981 of black lung complications. He has hundreds of descendants scattered all over the globe. He lived through hard labor, WWI, The Great Depression, Prohibition, and many other historically significant events. He has quite a legacy, and I am pleased to share it with you. Thanks for reading.
Do you have a relative or friend that fought in a war? Ran moonshine? Grew their own food? Came to the mountains from Ireland to find work? I am always on the lookout for the next Featured Appalachian, and if you would like to nominate someone, I can pretty much guarantee they will be featured. Please don't hesitate to get in touch, and we can share the story of your parents/grandparents/relatives/friends. You can contact me at mountainbloodwv@gmail.com or on Facebook under the name MountainBlood WV. Thank you!
You forgot to add Wesley Hubert Griffith.. My Dad, Alice and Edith's brother. He was in the middle of all the children. Actually was to be the last of the children, which is why he has a closeness to his father's name.
ReplyDeleteWesley has been added to the list. There were so many names to keep up with. lol
ReplyDeleteThe family picture is Hubert and Christie, not Clarence.
ReplyDeleteI thought grandpa (Hubert) died of complications of Black Lung from working in the coal mines and grandma (Christie) died of liver cancer?? Grandma Christie also defeat with bladder cancer while living in Columbus with her son Wesley and his family.
ReplyDelete**dealt with bladder cancer...
DeleteThe Clarence and Christie caption was a typo. It is Hubert and Christie. I must have mixed up the cause of death between him and Christie also. I will correct it.
ReplyDelete