Moving On...Changing My Focus

It was on July 18, 2010, 15 years ago today, that I first posted something on my blog site.  I have regularly published posts regarding historical, food, family, travel and restaurant experiences for most of the past many years.  At one point I was posting to the site 3 times every week.   Most recently, it's been twice a week.

I've decided to cease any regular publications/posts to the site.  Not gone...still will publish something from time to time as the spirit moves me, but my focus is moving elsewhere.  I want to spend more time researching our family histories and I've gotten much more involved with a local Knoxville collector's club.  I do enjoy the time spent in that endeavor...even with the work involved. 

What follows are a scattering of the many photos dating as far back as last October...a sampling of those taken near the conclusion of our long road trip through parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia.  I'd never completed the Virginia portion of the trip...

This is the entrance to the Reeves Museum of Ceramics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia.  The Reeves collection showcases one of America's best collections of Chinese export porcelain as well as European and American ceramics made between 1500 and 1900.

FYI, Washington and Lee University is the 9th oldest college in the USA.  Originally known as Liberty Hall Academy, it was renamed Washington Academy in 1796 and Washington College in 1813.  A gift of stocks from George Washington had saved the school from financial ruin.  Robert E. Lee, who had led Confederate forces throughout the Civil War, had previously been the Superintendent of the West Point Military Academy.  A few months after the war, he became President of Washington College and he helped build the university for the future.

In today's highly charged political atmosphere, Lee's name being attached to this University has been controversial.  For the university's outlook on this subject, go to https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/university-history/university-namesakes.

During our visit, there was a exhibition of ceramics adjacent to artwork with blank spaces in the paintings that are related to the ceramics.  I still don't get it...but both Laurie and I do love ceramics and this plate was a stunner!

I just had to include this 'fowl' piece of porcelain in my post.  Love the brilliant colors involved!  

Then there was this gorgeous brown and yellow teapot with raised decorations.  This teapot from the Yixing Dynasty teapot dates somewhere between 1725 - 1775.

This stunning hard paste porcelain 'tea pot' from China didn't start its life as a tea pot, but rather as a wine pot.  The English later repurposed it as a teapot.  Note the 'bamboo bundle' shape that was created by a master ceramics maker sometime between 1700 and 1720.

Moving on down the road, it was time to find a place for dinner.  Research had revealed the possibility of a fine German dinner near Staunton Virginia.  The Edelweiss Restaurant is a log structure in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The family that built it came from Karlsruhe Germany.  The menu is loaded with German specialties, something one doesn't see very often.

While Edelweiss is well rated on the Internet, Laurie and I weren't feeling it... The food was decent but not great and the service was rushed.  This restaurant is popular with long waits for customers so maybe our lack of enthusiasm isn't typical.  Check it out and give Edelweiss a try.  Let us know what you think... Website: https://edelweissvirginia.com/.

I love taking photos like this and imagining what might have been... Located at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains on US Hwy. 60 in Amherst County Virginia, Forks of Buffalo refers to the place where the North and South Forks of the Buffalo River come together.

Since I like researching places, I came across this photo from the Forks of the Buffalo area, showing the Myers' Cash Store, United States Post Office and Esso Gas Station.  Perhaps the early to mid-1960s, the store opened in 1937.  Unfortunately, I also came across another photo from December of 2024, only 2 months after I took that first photo, now showing that the front of the old building had fallen down... Timing is everything.

This well preserved and restored railway depot is located at Amherst Virginia.  Amherst was founded in 1807 and it is the county seat for the county of the same name.  The town's population has never been much higher than its current level of about 2,200 residents.

Amherst was first known as Dearborn and the first depot here was completed in the late 1800s for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.  It was replaced in the late fall of 1913 by the Southern Railway.  As was typical, the ticket booth extended outward from the center facing the tracks, with waiting rooms on each side...one for black folks and the other for white folks.  Three passenger trains stopped at the depot every day until the mid-1940s.  Passenger service was completely discontinued during the 1960s and finally freight service ceased in the mid-1970s.

So...just where is this old structure located?  Our next significant stop was at the Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park at the village of Appomattox Courthouse...redundant I know.  This is not the original Appomattox Courthouse, but rather a reconstruction.

In the 1800s the original courthouse gave its name to the village around it.  As many of us know, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army here in 1865.  I always thought that Lee had surrendered to Grant at the courthouse but the courthouse was closed that day so the surrender took place in a nearby home.  In any case the village was already in a state of decline in the 1850s.  The original courthouse burned down in 1892 and the county seat was relocated.  This structure was rebuilt in 1964 and it now serves at the Visitor's Center for the more than 1,700 acre Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park.

So this is the house...or an almost exact replica of the house...where Lee surrendered to Grant, virtually bringing America's long and painful Civil War to an end.  This is the McLean House at the Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park and it was chosen for the surrender as it was the most substantial home or building in the Village.

The McLean House was originally built by Charles Raine in 1848.  It had served as a tavern/inn and it was sold to Wilmer McLean in 1863.  In an interesting historical quirk of fate, the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) took place on McLean's farm.  Seeking to avoid the war, and too old to serve in the Confederate Army, McLean moved here to 'avoid the war'.

This is a recreation of the setting where Lee formally surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.  The original furniture is in the possession of the Smithsonian and the Chicago History Museum.

The terms of surrender were: "The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands,"... neither "side arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage" to be surrendered; and, as many privates in the Confederate Army owned horses and mules, all horses and mules claimed by men in the Confederate Army to be left in their possession.

As for the McLean house, Wilmer McLean was broke as all his money was in Confederate dollars, which he'd accumulated by running sugar through the Union blockade during the war.  Ownership passed from one person to one scheme or another.  At one point it was disassembled and labeled for possible reconstruction as an attraction in Washington D.C.  That project never got off the ground and much of what was left of the house was pilfered over the years.  The re-built house was opened to the public on April 9, 1949.  Over 5,000 of the home's original bricks were used in the construction.

To learn more about the Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park and to plan a visit, go to https://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm. 

This is the Booker T. Washington National Monument near Hardy Virginia.  Booker T. Washington was born a slave on the 207-acre farm of James Burroughs in April of 1856.  Following the Civil War, he became the first principal of  the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School.  Later, as an advisor and confidant of President Theodore Roosevelt, an author and orator, he became the most influential African American of his era.

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1919)

To learn more about Booker T. Washington, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington.

This National Monument preserves portions of the tobacco farm where Booker T. Washington was born and where he lived for the first 9 years of his life.  The facility also provides interpretation of Washington's life and achievements as well as an interpretation of slavery and farming in the 1850s through the use of buildings, gardens, crafts and animals.

You can learn more about The Booker T. Washington National Monument at https://www.nps.gov/bowa/index.htm.  

The last stop on our long but interesting and relaxing road trip was of course, dinner on the last night of the trip.  We were tired and looking forward to getting home.  The decision was made that we should go casual for our final meal on the road so we picked JJ's Restaurant and Sports Bar in Abingdon Virginia from my list of dining options.  Laurie stuck to soup and cornbread and I went for fried catfish, beans, coleslaw and cornbread.  The food wasn't gourmet but it was tasty, reasonably priced and satisfying.

JJ's Restaurant and Sports Bar is located at 115 Charwood Drive in Abingdon Virginia.  Open daily for lunch and dinner.  Phone: 276-525-4999.  Website: https://www.eatatjjs.com/.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, I'll be back from time to time and I'll also check in on those who I've been following...

Just click on any of the photos you'd like to enlarge.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care...and, as the saying from the 50's (the era of 45 rpm records), "I'll see you on the flip side".

Big Daddy Dave

Memorial Day - 2025

 In Memoriam

Ronald Allen Myers

Born on April 2, 1911

Killed in Action on May 6, 1945, 80 years ago this month.

World War II in Europe officially ended on May 8th, 1945. 

Staff Sergeant Ronald Myers in a column crossing Germany just a little over 3 weeks before he was KIA in what was then Czechoslovakia.

This local memorial for my Dad is located in the Pilsen area of what is now the Czech Republic, near the town of Tesov, where he was killed.

Ronald Allen Myers' final resting place is in the Lorraine American Military Cemetery near Saint-Avold France. (Rest in Peace Dad)

God Bless America and as well the millions of men and women who have fought and died for our freedom!

This flag was used on D-Day at Utah Beach as American forces fought their way ashore.  It is part of the Smithsonian collection.  It stands as a testament to the lives that have been sacrificed for our freedom...

Family Visit from Michigan

In 2022 Laurie and I went on a road trip that was primarily centered on Michigan, my home state.  I was born in Carson City Michigan and lived in and near Jackson until I relocated for my career when I was about 25 years old.  I am now the oldest living member of both my paternal and maternal family lines.  

During the aforementioned road trip in 2022, we stopped and visited my cousin Nathan and his better half, Janice.  Well, ever since then I've hassled them just a bit.  It was past time for them to come down to East Tennessee and pay us a visit!  Despite a close family life and having two of their children, as well as young grandchildren living near them, us oldsters finally prevailed!  

But, before I start posting photos regarding Nathan and Janice's visit, here's a little family historical background.

This is Nathan's father and my uncle Nathan. (There have been 4 Nathans in the family to date) However, that beautiful little boy being held by Nathan's father is yours truly.  That dates the photo somewhere between late 1944 and mid-1945.  The photo was taken in front of my grandfather and grandmother's home on Prospect Street in Jackson Michigan.

This photo is from the wedding of my cousin Nathan's father Nathan and his bride Ruth.  The person at the left is unknown but the second from the left is a photo of a very young (pre-US Navy) Uncle John.  Then Uncle Nathan, Aunt Ruth, Ruth's sister Billie and my mother Elizabeth's second husband, Hugh Thomson. (My father Ronald was KIA in Czechoslovakia on May 6, 1945)

Another wedding photo.  Aunt Ruth and Uncle Nathan were cutting the cake...with my mother, Elizabeth watching the action. (Wearing the hat at the left)

One more family photo tied to Uncle Nathan and Aunt Ruth's wedding.  From the left, Ruth's parents, William and Ruth (yes...a second Ruth too), then Uncle Nathan and his bride, then Nathan's parents (my grandparents), Estelle and Nathan (Sr.) 

I've accumulated a lot of family history with a number of old photos.  Thanks to my cousin Nathan for sending his parents wedding photos.

Speaking of my cousin Nathan...that's him above...headed straight for my mother's camera.  Whatever happened to that cute little tyke?  That's his mother Ruth at the left and his sister Susan is playing at the right of the photo.  This was at their home in the Detroit area.

This photo was taken during our visit to Nathan and Janice's home back in 2022.  As you can see, he's all grown up and chilling with a cup of coffee.

This photo is of Nathan and Janice (center) with most of their clan. (so far).  From the left is their daughter Elizabeth with her husband Justin and their children Ian and Craig.  At the right are daughter Nadine with her husband James and their children Charlie and Sherman.  Nadine and James are expecting a third child...a girl to be named Elliot.  

The photo was taken at the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport at Oscoda Michigan.  This airport used to be owned and operated by the United States Air Force and today it's owned by the local community and it hosts a small museum and aircraft maintenance operations.  

The one person missing from the preceding family portrait was Janice and Nathan's son 'wee' Nathan as he is referred to.  He's the fourth of the 'Nathans'... This photo was taken during our Michigan road trip in 2022.

...and now, ready or not, I'll take you through a part of Nathan and Janice's visit to our home here in East Tennessee.

We did some cooking and a lot of eating during their visit.  Nathan took the photo and he likes his photos to be unposed or impromptu.  He captured Laurie serving apple crumble for dessert and Janice struggling to open a container of gelato.  At least they were both smiling!  

Nathan also snapped this photo... I'm not known for my big smiles but this is the extreme opposite look.  I was studying one of the items in the gift basked that Janice put together for us...and Laurie was in motion doing... It was a great gift basket with a Scottish theme...appropriate because Janice is from Scotland and Laurie and her sisters are headed to Scotland later this year to visit relatives.  Janice is headed for Scotland again even before Laurie's trip.

Note: If you have a chance to visit Scotland, don't pass it up!  It is one of our all time favorite places and we've been there twice.  

So, when we have visitors, we do have a number of automatic and preferred destinations listed that are entertaining and speak to the area.  Tellico Plains Tennessee with the Tellico Grains Bakery and Bald River Falls were destinations when Janice and Nathan visited us a few years earlier.  But we hadn't taken them to the Everhart Lumber Company or the local museum in Tellico Plains.

Our first stop was at Everhart Lumber...  The particular piece in the photo above is part of the company's collection of wooden folk art creations that they've accumulated from families living or who lived in this mountainous area.

Although Everhart Lumber specializes in 'natural wood furniture', slabs of wood for woodworkers and specialty building products such as wood mantles, they have expanded a bit, adding a very nice collection of gift items for the discerning shopper.  Janice did make a purchase...

Laurie took this photo of Nathan as he perused some pottery, examined that nifty stag wine holder and admiring the shelving itself.  

Nathan turned the table on Laurie and took this photo of her as she scanned the shopping opportunities.  I'm not a shopper but I do like this shop.  It's even improved recently with the expansion of the non-wood but classy gift items.  

Everhart's is a wood specialty and furniture store.  They offer ready-made and custom-made furniture made from a variety of unique woods.  Reclaimed wood is made into furniture, charcuterie trays, frames and more.  Fireplace mantles are available for builders, homeowners and  interior designers and beautiful slabs of wood are on display for purchase by craftsmen who want to do their own thing. 

The Everhart Lumber Company is located at 911 Veterans Memorial Drive in Tellico Plains Tennessee.  Phone: 423-253-2323.  Website: http://www.everhart-lumber.com/.  There are lots of photos of the lumber related products/furniture that is possible on the website. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them... More about this visit, including food of course, will follow.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

The Woodrow Wilson Library - Staunton Virginia

...continuing with our October 2024 road trip, we had spent the night in Staunton Virginia.  I had previously researched possible attractions and places of interest with the Woodrow Wilson Library and Museum in Staunton popping out as a promising destination.    

This is a view of the Woodrow Wilson Museum and Library complex.  It consists of 3 adjoining structures. 

This is the entrance to the Visitor's Center (and shop) for the Presidential Library and Museum.

The actual Woodrow Wilson Museum has it's own entrance.  Note the big doors and big windows at the right of the photo.

For those who aren't familiar with Woodrow Wilson, he was a politician and academic who served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 until 1921.  A Democrat, Wilson had served as the President of Princeton University and as the Governor of New Jersey prior to winning the Presidential election in 1912.  He was President during World War I, aka "The War to End All Wars".

After the war when Wilson returned from France after negotiating the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, this then brand new Pierce-Arrow limousine was waiting for him at the dock in New York City to take him back to Washington.  He liked this auto so much that when he left office, his friends purchased it for him to use.  This was the Buffalo New York based Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company's Series 51 Model.

This automobile was distinguished by 2 special emblems.  The Presidential Seal was displayed on each of its arched rear passenger doors.  On the front of the radiator panel was the AAA (American Automobile Club) symbol.  Wilson was the first President to join that association.  This auto was donated to the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation by his widow, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.

We did like this striking American Flag-Wilson display setting off a number of personal artifacts.  Of note is the woman featured in the photo as the right of the display.   She is Ellen Bolling Galt Wilson, Woodrow Wilson's second wife.

Unlike more recent Presidential libraries and museums, the collections here at Wilson's birthplace are not as extensive one might expect.  The complex includes the President's birthplace, (aka the Manse), a museum that basically covers the President's life and times, a research library and a gift shop as well as several other buildings that aren't open to the public.  

Note: All United States Presidential Libraries for administrations prior to that of Herbert Hoover, including Wilson's, are not part of the Federal National Archives' Presidential Library System.

                            

While attending graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in 1883, Wilson met and fell in love with Ellen Louise Axson.  Like Wilson, she was from the southern United States.  She had graduated from the Art Students League of New York and worked in portraiture...but she sacrificed her artistic pursuits in order to marry Wilson in 1885.  

The photo above shows Ellen and Woodrow with their daughters in 1912.  From the left...Margaret, Ellen, Eleanor, Jessie and Woodrow.  Sadly, in August of 1914 Ellen died from Bright's Disease" a kidney disorder.

President Wilson reportedly fell into depression following Ellen's passing.  However, in March of 1915, he met Edith Bolling Galt at a White House tea.  She was also from the south and she was a widow, her husband having been a wealthy jeweler in Washington D.C.  After several meetings, Wilson proposed to Edith in May of 1915.  He was initially rebuffed but she warmed to the relationship and they were married in December of 1915.  Wilson is one of the three Presidents that got married while in office, the other two being John Tyler and Grover Cleveland.

These photos show part of a re-creation of the study that was in the house that he and Ellen had built at Princeton in 1895.  His focus was on his career and politics.  The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library houses materials from during and immediately after his lifetime, memoirs of those who worked with him and governmental volumes concerning World War I.  Other larger collections of Wilson's official papers and documents are maintained at The Library of Congress and Princeton University.

This display is related to Woodrow Wilson's family after they'd settled in Staunton Virginia.  Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton in December 1856.  His parents were Scotch-Irish and Scottish.  Woodrow's father Joseph met Jesse, his mother, in Ohio.  Soon after the couple married, Joseph was ordained as a Presbyterian pastor and he was assigned to serve in Staunton.  When Woodrow was quite young, the family moved to another parish in Augusta Georgia.

Woodrow Wilson's earliest memory was when he was in the family's front yard in Augusta.  He recalled a passerby announcing in disgust that Abraham Lincoln had been elected and that a war was coming.  Woodrow's father identified with the Southern USA and he was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Joseph Wilson owned slaves himself...

The items displayed above are related to President Woodrow Wilson and actions surrounding World War I.  From 1914 until early 1917, Wilson's primary foreign policy objectives were to keep the US out of the war in Europe.  Ideally, he wanted to broker a peace agreement.  He insisted that all American government actions must be neutral so as to avoid the perception that the USA had a preference of one side of the conflict over the other.  The sinking of the Lusitania and similar actions by Germany finally forced American involvement.

This is our tour group at the entrance to Woodrow Wilson's birthplace.  It is called the Manse, which is the name of a Presbyterian minister's home.  This home was built in 1846 by the Staunton First Presbyterian Church.  The home has 12 rooms with 12 fireplaces and it originally cost about $4,000 to build.  At that point the Wilson family consisted of Joseph, his wife Jessie and their 2 daughters.  Another son, Joseph Jr. as well as Woodrow, were born in this home.

In general, this Wilson home in Staunton was much like any other middle to upper middle class home of its time...comfortable but not overly plush.  The sitting room above proves the point.

This is one of the family bedrooms.  Our photos from inside the home were cluttered with the tour group so they weren't much use for this posting.  Note the chamber pot under the bed.  It was use that or run outside to the outhouse in bad weather!

Perhaps because it was the home for Presbyterian ministers, the home is quite plain with minimal decor.  Practical and simple are words that come to mind.  

As previously mentioned, Woodrow Wilson became the President of Princeton University.  In that role he strove to raise admission and educational  standards...taking the school from a nice place for upper middle class men to attend to a place that actually promoted and required serious study.  He aggravated and lost some support from alumni but with the help and donations of such wealthy supporters as Mose Taylor Pyne (Cuban investments, sugar and railroads) and Andrew Carnegie, Woodrow did make meaningful changes.  He also promoted the first Jew and the first Catholic to the faculty.  He managed to loosen the conservative control of the conservative Presbyterians on the board.  However, at the same time he worked to keep African-Americans from attending Princeton...this while other Ivy League schools were beginning to do so.

We've seen a lot of toys in old homes and museums over the years but this was the first horse-tricycle we'd ever seen.  Note that it is operated by moving the handles back and forth.  It was located in the 'birthing room' of the home.  

Woodrow Wilson made a lot of progress improving Princeton but eventually he'd made so many 'enemies' that he grew tired of the constant roadblocks to progress and he found a way out.  He attracted the attention of the Democratic Party in New Jersey as they desperately sought a viable candidate for Governor of that state.  He became Governor in 1910 and his clashes with state party bosses enhanced his reputation with the rising Progressive movement.  

In addition to the progressives, Wilson enjoyed the support of key Princeton alumni such as Cyrus McCormick and a number of Southerners who believed that Wilson's status as a transplanted Southerner gave him broad appeal.  Consequently, Wilson became a key contender for the Democratic Presidential ticket as the election year of 1912 approached.  Wilson faced two major opponents in the election.  They were one-term Republican President William Howard Taft and former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, the latter running as a third party candidate for the "Bull Moose" Party.  The split in the Republican party between Taft and Roosevelt led to Woodrow Wilson's victory and his first term as President in 1913.

Remember...the Manse was built in 1846 and its been refurbished to fit the period.  The kitchen is pretty basic as is the rest of the home.  Note the sand box that the stove is sitting on.

Wilson was a 'progressive', a term that is liberally used in today's politics.  He introduced a comprehensive program of domestic legislation at the beginning of his administration.  No other President had ever done such a thing before.  His 4 major priorities were: conservation of natural resources; banking reform, tariff reduction, and; better access to raw materials via the breaking up of Western Mining Trusts.  This agenda was introduced to a joint session of Congress, making Wilson the first President since John Adams to address Congress in person.  

The Revenue Act of 1913 reduced tariffs, replacing the lost revenue with a Federal Income Tax of 1% on those with incomes of more than $3,000.  That impacted the richest 3% of the population.  Wilson also was instrumental in the creation of the Federal Reserve System...making the banking system 'public not private' and he helped create the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate antitrust violations...

I'm ending this post with another highly decorative stove...this one which would have provided heat to one room in the Wilson family home in Staunton.  Whether it was original or not is not the point as far as I'm concerned.  I just love the design...it is so ornate!

So, once in office what else did Woodrow Wilson accomplish?  He pushed for legislation providing for an 8 hour work day and a six day work week, various health and safety measures, the prohibition of child labor and a number of safeguards for female workers.  He also favored a minimum wage for all work performed by or for the Federal government.  Many credit or blame Wilson for the creation of the welfare state as we know it today. 

Wilson was narrowly re-elected in 1916 and while he did all he could to keep America out of the War in Europe, he did begin building up our ability to fight if it became necessary.  The Democratic Party had campaigned on the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War".  Unfortunately, our late entry into the war in 1917 was not without enormous problems in staffing, training and equipment.  President Wilson is considered by many to have been a segregationist or racist.  He escalated the discriminatory hiring practices and segregation of government offices that had begun under Theodore Roosevelt and continued under Taft.  Under his Administration, many departments were segregated and some adopted whites only employment policies.  Many black office holders were simply fired.

Following the Allied victory in late 1918, President Wilson attended the Paris Peace Conference.  He successfully pushed for the establishment of a multinational organization, the League of Nations, which was incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles, which Wilson signed.  However, when he returned home, the Senate wouldn't approve the treaty unless they were given the power to declare war...taking that ability away from the President or any treaty agreement.  The Treaty was never signed and America never joined the League of Nations.  Wilson suffered a stroke in late 1919 that left him incapacitated.  Some historians debate the impact, but his second wife Edith and his physician controlled Wilson and despite pressure for the Vice President to take over the reins, it never happened.  Allegedly no important decisions were made on the President's 'behalf' for the remainder of his second term.

All in all, our visit to the Woodrow Wilson Library and Museum was very interesting and we both learned a lot.  To learn more about this Presidential attraction located in Staunton Virginia, go to https://www.woodrowwilson.org/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave