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The Spiker Gazette |
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Oxford, WV | Volume 15 | Issue 5 | May 2021 |
In this Issue: | The Local Courtships and Marriages The Local Rumors and Gossip Announcements |
The Local Courtships and Marriages
Written by: Bobbi Spiker-Conley Editor's Note for this section — The courting letters are transcribed in the shaded column on the left. Additional information that may be of interest to some genealogists is provided in the adjacent column. That info is believed to be accurate, however, it is subject to change as additional info may become available. Reading like a newspaper Society Section, Jake and Gay's letters provided newsy tidbits about local courtships, breakups, and marriages. No-one's relationship was off-limits, including those of Gay's two younger sisters, Kate and Coe.
Another of Gay's former beaus? Keep in mind that the terms "boyfriend" and "dating" weren't part of the vocabulary in the very early 1900s. Rather, a "beau" was a young man who showed interest in calling upon a young woman. If the woman accepted, and the family approved, the couple may have pursued a "courtship."
In those days, there was an expectation that everyone would marry. So, while Jake and Gay happily recorded the names and dates of these events in their letters, they often flirtatiously included some not-so-subtle reminders of their own unmarried statuses.
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The Local Rumors and Gossip
Written by: Bobbi Spiker-Conley
As Jake and Gay recorded the marriages of others, the others were speculating about a marriage between Gay and Jake. Or maybe Jake was already married? But not married to Gay?? And Gay was aware she was dating a married man???
It started innocently enough when Jake teasingly referred to Gay as his “wife.” That is apparently when the whispers began, both in Clarksburg and Harrisville. Add to the mix some nosy neighbors, a few fibs, and a visiting preacher, and you have the makings of a scandalous affair.
On February 4, 1906, Jake wrote: |
“You just ought to have been here last night to have gone to the meeting with me over at North View (near Clarksburg, WV.) They had 11 seekers and 4 professions last night. They are nearly all French people and you never saw such a place for shouting in your life. You could not keep from laughing, or at least I can’t, and you know what a little sober fellow I am, ha ha. "There is several young people here and they are wanting me to take a walk with them, but I told them that I had to write a letter to my wife. One of them said, you are not married, are you? And I said, why of course I am. I said a man was foolish to live in this world without a woman. You did not know that I could lie like that, did you? I heard one of the girls say, he looks so young to be married, ha ha.” |
On February 7, 1906, Gay replied: |
“Them people could guess that you wasn’t married, or an awful flirt. If you are married, you ought to of told me, ha ha.” |
February 11, 1906, Jake wrote: |
“You said that you bet those people thought that I was an offal [sic] flirt. You know that I am not no flirt. And I’ll bet that they never thought anything of the kind. Of course, I am not married, but you know that is not my fault. You know that I would take the first woman that said yes, but it seems that they know that I am only a pet monkey, and they won’t have me now. Don’t you see the point, ho ho and ha ha.” |
March 21, 1906, Gay wrote: |
"I seen Lena last week. She came down to Buckner Zinn’s on a visit...Lena had bushels to tell me. She told me all about you going to get married. She didn’t know [the girl’s] name but she said it was a sure go. She said it was one of Andy Jackson’s old sweethearts. Andy sent her word to come over and they would sympathize with one another, ha ha. "Cortis [Cortez Zinn] from Clarksburg was down to Buckner’s the night I was down there. He was teasing me and said he knew you. He told me a whole lot of stuff, but I know him and I just let it go in one ear and out the other. Cortis is a dandy." |
March 25, 1906, Jake wrote: |
"Lena said it was a sure go about me being married? That is one of Andrew Jackson's big fibs, and I have got a crow to pick with them when I get to see him. You are the only girl that I have got and the only one that I expect to have as long as I can keep you." |
April 22, 1906, Gay wrote: |
“I received a letter from Otley last evening…She said she had been hearing that I was going to get married. But she has been hearing things that I never think of.” |
May 10, 1906, Gay wrote: |
“You remember Saturday evening when you and I was sitting on the porch? About them two women going down, they went and told some of our neighbors that ‘that married man was up to see Gay again.’ It is going around that I am going with a married man and that I know [he is married.] Say, it worries me a little bit. |
May 13, 1906, Jake replied: |
“Gay, it hurts my feelings for people to talk that way about me, but you know that I cannot help it. They have got to talk about someone, and I reckon it just as well be me as anyone. "You know that it is not so. You know that someone has tried to cause us to fall out ever since we have been friends, but I think that they will fail. Don’t you, Gay? I know if some of those people don’t keep their mouth shut, they will get to hear from me in a pretty rough way. I am getting just a little tired of someone telling something every time that I come to see you. You can tell one of your neighbors, if I hear anything more from them that I will make that nose strater [sic] than it is. I wish you would tell some of them people to tend to their own business and we will tend to ours.” |
May 16, 1906, Gay wrote: |
“Of course, it is no disgrace on you to be called a married man, but the way I look at it is them reporting about me going with a married man and knowing it. If that would get about in the neighborhood where I am now known, people would make something awful out of it, and you know it worries me.” |
May 18, 1906, Jake responded: |
“You said that I need not to care for being called a married man. I don’t care for that, but don’t you know, what worries my little love, worries me too. If it was not for you, I would not care a snap, but the way it is, I do care. Some of those good people over there are going to keep on till they get my Irish up. And when it is up, it is not so easy to get down as you would think.” |
September 7, 1906, Gay wrote: |
“Oh yes! It is going around here that you and I was married Sunday. You remember that Rev. McGregor passed by our house while you was here. And of course, that was all that was necessary. But we won’t have a Methodist preacher to say the words for us, will we? It certainly would be dangerous for a preacher to pass a house where a young man has gone to see his sweetheart if they didn’t want to get married. Some people around here hasn’t nothing else to amuse themselves with, only to start something of that kind.” |
The full truth of Jake and Gay’s relationship would not be revealed for nearly a year. However, it is around this time, in 1906, that we begin to see snippets of their potential wedding plans.
We'll tell you all about it. Next month.
Announcements
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Patrick Cloughessy's employer announced in January 2017 that their New York plant would be shutting down by April 2021. As part of their commitment to their employees, it was announced that "any employee who was willing to relocate would be provided a job for which they were qualified." According to one source, approximately 170 employees have accepted the offer. Patrick is one of them, having accepted a position at the company's Arkansas location. Pat and Haley purchased a home, held a yard sale, completed their move, and celebrated the boys' seventh birthday (twice) in just a few weeks. They are understandably exhausted. Contact Haley or me for the Cloughessy family's new mailing address in Dover, Arkansas.
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OBITUARIES:
Larry Allen Gregis, 74, of West Union, WV departed this life Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at his residence surrounded by loving family. Raiguel Funeral Home in Harrisville, WV is assisting the family with the arrangements. You may share a memory or send condolences to the family at their website, here. |
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♦ Submitted by Bobbi Spiker-Conley: We are also remembering the wives of ZINN brothers Virgil Darrell and Charles Clyde (both deceased) who passed away this month, Sylvia Lee (Greer) Zinn and Myra J (Garner) Zinn, respectively. Virgil & Clyde are the sons of Wilbur Roy Zinn |