Midwives in West Virginia

I was helping a patron today at the Pioneer Memorial Public Library who was looking for some information about her Harman and Huffman ancestors in Randolph County and Pendleton County, West Virginia. In digging through our records of marriages, births, and deaths, I found an old photocopy about Aunt Sara Midwife (1853-1916). I have no idea where the piece of paper came from but the story of Aunt Sara is so typical of the strong frontier women of West Virginia. I have transcribed below what I found:

Aunt Sara Midwife

"Aunt Sara Murphy Wilmoth Phillips the second of thirteen children of Elder James and Mary (Polly) Stansbury Murphy. Her paternal grandparents were Jonah and Sarah Pride Stansbury.

She was born December 3, 1853 in their home on Haddix Mountain, Randolph County, near the Tucker County line.

She was married July 15, 1869 first to Abel Wilmoth, and to this union were born four children, Lloyd, Hinnie, Emma, and Evva [sic]. Later she married Albert Phillips, but they had no children. Besides her own four children Aunt Sarah helped to rear three other children who needed a home, Elam Cross, Charley Wamsley, and Gladys Vanscoy. After marriage she lived in a log house, but later they built the fine home that was located in the field near where the J and H market is now located. The home burned within the last year, and the burned remains can still be seen from the highway.

Perhaps the greatest contribution she made to her community was her services as a midwife which according to records began in 1889 when she was 36 years old, and ended in 1916 when she was 63. She died December 26, 1916. In her medical records the first births recorded were those of Cora Wilmoth, January 10, 1889, who later married her youngest brother, Hickman Murphy, and Columbus Rossey, July 19, 1889 who was the son of her oldest sister, Isabella. One of the last recordings in her book was Roscoe Murphy, January 16, 1916, a cousin. She worked very little the year of 1916.

Her son-in-law Austin Curtis, who married her daughter Hinnie said, "Her records were thorough, and promptly recorded at the court house."

In most of the reports we find the name of each child, the date of birth, and the number of the child. She gave the names of the parents, and many times their ages, the maiden name of the mother, and the county where they were born. It is interesting to note how many of the parents came into Randolph County from Barbour County.

In response to calls, in early years by the father's voice, and later years by phone, night or day, she mounted her sorrel mare, Maude, and away she went on a side saddle with her little black bag. In cold weather she wrapped her legs even though she wore long skirts and petticoats. She stayed as long as she was needed at each home until both mother and baby were alright.

She was not only a midwife, but she was a friend to help the mother care for the babies, and she did much work as a Doctor anytime she was called.

Aunt Sarah did her work well because of her God given talent, and experience. She was not required to have a practicing license, as did her niece, Bessie Ferguson, who was also a midwife in later years.

Aunt Sarah perhaps never charged more than five dollars to deliver a baby, yet she was a good manager in her home and accumulated considerable wealth. She found work for all members of her family as they raised, harvested, and sold farm products. The merchants in Montrose would buy, trade, and sell, anything the people in the community had extra.

Even though all the children worked for Aunt Sarah, she sent them to school and they all loved her.

Her records show that she delivered 36 babies in this community. Many of their names you will recognize as you read the following complete list as preserved by her grandson, the late Russell Curtis, and his wife Pauline, who loaned the fragile books and Aunt Sarah's picture to be copied. We hope that you will be able to find some names and dates that will help you in compiling your own family history.

In the front of one of Aunt Sarah's books we found this message:

"When these you see, Oh, think of me."

I am indeed thinking of you today, Aunt Sara Midwife of West Virginia.

Fiction From West Virginia

Which reminds me...Have you read the "The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel of an American Midwife" (2012) by Patricia Harman? It is a story that may be a lot like that of Aunt Sarah Midwife.

Patience Murphy is a midwife who travels her community birthing babies and helping out new mothers. Murphy has come to Appalachia to escape a chequered past and to reinvent herself. (And honestly, a lot of people still come to WV to start over or to reinvent themselves.) Midwife Murphy distinguishes herself by serving both the white and black populations of West Virginia.

Probably also true to past times, Midwife Murphy accepts produce or livestock from patients unable to to pay cash.

Patricia Harman proves herself to be a top notch writer by delivering authentic mountain prose without resorting to hokey dialect. As a West Virginian and midwife, Harman's story has the distinct ring of truth and beauty. Each chapter tells the story of a birth and ends with the entry in her journal.

"The Midwife of Hope River" is one of those magical books that is written so seamlessly that it almost reads itself. Rewarding and rich, "The Midwife of Hope River" is a book that will please discerning readers of all ages.

Good News, Bad News

The Bad News

As most of you reading this already know, I was in a bad car accident on March 20, 2013, on my way to work at the Pioneer Memorial Public Library in Harman, WV. These weeks of recovery have been long and painful, but I am pleased to announce that I should be back to work and driving in the coming weeks. I am still recovering from a broken and dislocated ankle, several broken ribs, a broken sternum, bruised intestines, knee lacerations, and a head laceration. I still cannot walk but am beginning to put some weight on my ankle. Perhaps my greatest accomplishments so far are being able to go up a few steps (yay!) and taking a shower without risking my life.

I have never had a bad accident before but as a librarian who believes in lifelong learning I have learned A LOT from this experience. Here is what I have learned:

* The general world is not set up for handicapped people. I will never complain about parking lots with too many handicapped parking spaces ever again.

* It's very difficult to apply for and receive Medicaid. I will never complain about people who receive government subsidies as chances are good they have had to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops to get help.

* My friends and acquaintances care about me and have truly cared for me during this time. I received flowers, cards, phone calls, and food from many people. I will never doubt that I am cared for again.

* The body is an amazing piece of technology that knows just what to do in a crisis. I will never doubt the magical healing properties of the body.

* I will never complain about cleaning the house or emptying the cat litter box! I miss being able to do these things. Really.

* We have incredible medical technology and yet the body, with its glitches and ailments, is still quite mysterious.

The Good News!

Part of what has sustained me during this time is knowing that I was a recipient of a Rural Librarian scholarship through the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Thanks to UTK and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, I am the only person in West Virginia to receive this scholarship in 2013. I am majoring in Information Sciences and if all goes well will receive my MS degree in two years. Accredited by the American Library Association, I learned about the availability of this scholarship opportunity from the Laura Bush Foundation, took the GREs in November, and applied for it in December.

I learned of my scholarship award just prior to my accident, and knowing that this was waiting for me has helped to sustain me through some dreary days. Most of my course work is online and in the evenings, so it's easy and convenient to attend classes. The goal of my degree is not only to educate myself and advance professionally, it is to custom tailor my studies to improve the Pioneer Memorial Library, which is near and dear to my heart. I could not have received this scholarship if it were not my position at PMPL.

Thank You!

I would like to thank a ton of groups for coming to my aid on the day of my accident including: The Elkins Fire Department, the Harman Fire Department, the Whitmer Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, and Phi Air, the med-evac helicopter that flew me to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV. I would also like to thank the Trauma Team and the Orthopedic Departments at Ruby, as well as the doctors and nurses who took great care of me.

I would also like to thank the 2nd and 3rd graders at Harman School for their cheery get well cards and messages. They made me cry.

Thank you to all the folks who called, sent cards, or brought food to my house. I have needed the help and truly appreciate all the kindnesses that have been shown to me. Thank you to Cheryl Brown who has kept the Pioneer Memorial Public Library up and running during my time in recovery. Thank you to library board president Judy Bucher for managing the installation and completion of our new addition, and the renovation of the rest of the library space. If you haven't been to the library in awhile you should stop by and check it out!

When I blog again, I hope to have more information about how my classes are going as they begin at the end of this month!

Overdue: Getting Creative

OK, as a librarian, one of my pet peeves is overdue books and especially long-term overdue books. At the Pioneer Memorial Public Library we don't have a lot of cash to spend on mailing out overdue notices, but at the same time we also only have a $2,000 per year book-buying budget. That means that even a few missing books or DVDs really means a lot to a small library.

The overdue notices are generated automatically by the library circulation software that we use, but these notices are very impersonal and not particularly friendly. So this month when I sent out overdue notices I decided to try a new tactic. After all, I spent years designing direct mail marketing, aka junk mail, in which there is a whole science to getting the all-important response.

So I decided to approach the overdue notice with a little light-hearted verse in the style of Dr. Seuss. Here is the result:

Dear friends and readers,
Please lend me your ears,
We’re looking for lost books,
From over the years.

They may be in your house,
Or under the bed,
We hope that you liked them,
We hope they were read.

But other folks need them,
These wonderful tomes,
For loaning and learning,
For reading at home.

Please look for the books,
Wherever they are,
We need them back pronto
Are they in your car?

For buying new books
We don’t have lots of cash
So please search your cupboards,
And your own bookshelf stash.

Just drop them off
In our trusty drop box for books
No questions asked,
No dirty looks.

If you have returned
the books in this note
Just give us a call,
We’re sorry we wrote. :-)

I also included a note stating that we are waiving all fines until the end of June. Honestly, we just want our books or DVDs back. In direct mail, a one or two-percent response rate is considered good. But in the small library world, I am hoping for a larger return of long-lost books and DVDs. We shall see how successful my new approach may be.

Better World Books - Creative Book Recycling That Earns Cash For Your Library

In my continued quest to find alternative revenue streams for the Pioneer Memorial Public Library, I have connected with Better World Books. A fellow librarian tipped me off about BWB, so I made contact and set up an account. Here's how it works:

Once you sign an agreement the portal to order shipping supplies is open to your library or school. BWB sends free boxes and shipping labels that make this book recycling program even more attractive. To make sure you are not creating a larger carbon footprint through excessive shipping, BWB asks that you send no less than six to twenty-five boxes of books at a time. When you have filled up your boxes all you have to do is call UPS for a pick-up and the shipping is prepaid by BWB.

Better World Books sells these books on 50 online sites and sends your school or library 15% of the profits. An additional 5% goes to the charity of your choice. While 15% may not seem like a lot, BWB is keeping books out of landfills and creatively recycling these materials by reselling them online. The customer service representative that I spoke to said that they process about half a million books a week! That is a mind-boggling figure.

Founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame To quote from their website, "So far, the company has converted more than 58 million books into over $10.4 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 40,000 tons of books from landfills." That's a financial and environmental coup by any standards.

There are a few rules that you need to adhere to in packing up books for BWB such as:

* no Reader's Digest Condensed books

* no Who's Who books

* no damaged or marked-up books

* no Harlequin Romance novels

* nothing from the Modern Library series.

BWB suggests that these be recycled locally, while some may recommend these books as excellent fire starters. ;-)

I'll report back at a later date as to the profits we have received from Better World Books. Even if it's not a lot, it makes me feel good to know that these books may be reused and reread by people who need them or want them. I think of Better World Books as good reading karma.

The Power of Reading When Powerless

So in case you haven't heard, Superstorm Sandy came through on Monday evening and stuck around for a few days leaving power outages, downed power lines, and lots and lots of very wet snow. It was pretty at first. Then, when I realized the snow wasn't going to stop it got a little scary. Then the lights went out.

Without electricity for four full days I had a lot of time on my hands to consider the hardships of our pioneer ancestors who came to West Virginia to find a little patch of land to call their own. Left without electronic devices of TV or Internet, I began to read.

Someone had recommended the book "Follow the River" by John Alexander Thom. This historical fiction tells the story of Mary Draper Ingles (1732-1815) who was kidnapped by the Shawnee Indians from early western Virginia. Ingles later escapes and travels hundreds of miles to find her way home. I had trouble with the detailed violence in this book and could only make my way through about 50 pages before I abandoned this book to move onto something a little more peaceful. (If you are braver than I and want to check this book out we do have it at the library.)

A book I have been meaning to recommend that I read recently is "The Midwife of Hope River" by Patricia Harman. Set somewhere in West Virginia during The Great Depression, I found this book to be real, warm, and very believable. The titular midwife is Patience Murphy, a new midwife with a checkered past practicing baby birthing in Appalachia. The way Harman has structured the chapters is such that we read the story of a birth and then read the journal entry that Patience records for each new delivery. There is not a lot of conflict in this book, but the various people that Patience encounters along her midwife duties are fascinating and realistic. And yes, Patricia Harman lives in West Virginia and has an extensive background as a midwife.

I moved onto "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. (Nothing pioneer-like here, it is pure turn-of-the-last-century fantasy.) This book held my attention for two days and 528 pages. It is about a lovely and mysterious circus that opens only at night and without notice. The imagery in this book is amazing. All black and white with punctuations of red. My only complaint is that the conflict set up by the premise is never really fully realized. What is wonderful about The Night Circus is the imagined world of this magical circus that is populated by delicious treats, trained kittens, mysterious circus planners, and an exotic contortionist. Nothing super deep, but a fun ride none the less.

I am so grateful to have had such great books to read while we were without electricity. The power of reading allowed me to escape from the oppressive feeling (especially at night) brought on by the extreme change in our daily routines. And reading about Patience Murphy reminded me that even without electricity I had way more resources available to me than our pioneer ancestors did.

I am hoping that you all weathered the storm fairly well. We measured a full 2-1/2-feet of snow at our place just outside Glenmore near Elkins. There are countless trees down, power lines down, and also folks who are still without electricity. I am truly grateful to the power line workers who came from all over the country to help us out in the wake of this freakish storm.

West Virginia: A History by John Alexander Williams

OK, back to some history of West Virginia today.

I am almost finished reading a most excellent book "West Virginia: A History" by John Alexander Williams. This history book is well written and fascinating for a number of reasons.

Williams discusses the colonial nature of West Virginia that has abided since its earliest days as the western frontier of old Virginia. Colonialism is the idea of land, property, and businesses being owned by absentee landlords who take the money out of state. Many in old Virginia grabbed up as much western Virginia land as they could. Even George Washington claimed the best bottom land for himself.

Williams makes much mention of the idea that West Virginia was predicted to be one of the wealthiest states in the colonies because of its rich natural resources and natural beauty. But in reality, this was not to be. West Virginia remains one of the poorest states in the US.

"That such a country so full of the varied treasures of the forest and the mine...should lack inhabitants, or the hum of industry, or the show of wealth is an absurdity in the present and an impossibility in the future." This quote from J. H. Diss Debar shows how wrong he and many others were about the Mountain State.

The challenge of West Virginia geography has made road building here very expensive. The Department of Highways estimates that it takes $1 million dollars per mile of road to create new highways here. The great ridges of the Allegheny Mountains have always served as a natural barrier to business and wealth in WV.

Then there is the idea of the company store. In coal mining and log camp days, workers were indentured servants who had no choice but to spend their pay scrip at the company store. Prices were outrageously inflated and the workers had to pay rent on shacks and shanties owned by the company.

There are suggestions in this book that West Virginia continues to be impoverished by generations of West Virginians waiting for an employer to give them better wages and benefits. Entrepreneurialism is lacking here, and perhaps in the country overall. Instead of relying on a company or wealthy out-of-state patron, West Virginia needs to build its own capital and wealth at home.

West Virginia has also been victimized by wealthy companies that use our labor and export the wealth back to their own home states. During and after prohibition, entrepreneurial moonshiners were shut down by the government. Even today one of the complaints of the wind turbine industry is that our natural resources are being used to create electricity that is being exported to other states.

Reading this book, for me, was very enlightening. As a flatlander and transplant from Maryland, our culture and history is much different from that of West Virginia. "West Virginia: A History" is a must-read for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of where WV came from and where it might go in the future. I also have to say that the writing of Williams is fabulously rich and woven with wonderfully long paragraphs of elucidation. I found myself re-reading whole sentences that I thought were well-crafted and insightful. Consider this wonderful piece about the late, great Senator Byrd:

"Byrd's critics, especially those in the metropolitan Washington area, denounce him as a 'prince of pork' and note the frequency with which his name is chiseled onto the buildings that his largesse makes possible. But it is just as reasonable --given West Virginia's long history of exploitation by non-resident energy corporations and its failure to gain much from the federal defense and aerospace budgets of the Cold War years--to regard Byrd's efforts as reparations, not pork barrel."

Source: Williams, "West Virginia: A History." First published in 1976 by W. W. Norton, this is now reprinted by West Virginia University Press in Morgantown, WV.

Stop Scamming Libraries

Update: July 25, 2017: African American Publications is now Scholars In Print. If you get an unsolicited box of books do not open the box and do not accept it. Just send it back to the Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania address.

It all started in 2009.

The previous Pioneer Memorial Public Library director received a phone call asking if we would accept a donation of a box of books from African American Publications. Since we are a small library with a tiny budget for buying books, we accepted what seemed to be a generous offer.

That's when the phonecalls started. Since 2009, the library has received almost weekly phonecalls demanding over $450 in payment for books that were eventually returned at the library's expense.

And it seems that when AAP heard there was a new library director the phonecalls have begun again as have letters from a fraudulent debt collection company named "R. R. Beach Associates."

So here's what I have done to make sure that African American Publications and R.R. Beach Associates never, ever get to play this con under these existing names.

I contacted the Attorney General of Pennsylvania to file a formal complaint against AAP, as this is where they are allegedly located. Then I contacted the Attorney General of West Virginia since this is where AAP is playing their con game.

In addition, I contacted the Attorney General of Delaware, where the fake debt collection company is allegedly located. For good measure, I contacted the Federal Trade Commission.

But wait, there's more. I researched the domain host of African American Publications as GoDaddy.com, and sent them an email letting them know that the domain they host is primarily engaged in illegal activities.

I am especially disgusted with AAP because I feel they are preying on institutions large and small and leveraging guilt to extort payment. Also, by keeping the money amount under $500, some libraries may break down and pay just to make the phonecalls cease. The under $500 may also relieve them of larger charges if and when they are formally charged with crimes.

It did not take a lot of time to fill out forms and send them in. Now I am waiting for the phonecalls to stop.

I am hoping that by posting this that other small institutions and libraries may learn from my cautionary tale. The bottom line is that during a weak economy even the crooks and the con artists step up their game. But the other side of that is that we all have legal recourse available to us. I hope that if you or someone you know of has been the victim of fraud, conning, or other consumer abuse that you will go out of your way to report them to the proper authorities.

Update: 2/11/15 - Received a phone call from a Dr. Derrick Jones from African American Publications in Philadelphia. This is the same scam company and "Dr. Jones" got an earful from me. I am amazed this scam is still going on.