Stories & Tidbits

Georgia Wellman was born in Ashland, Kentucky and from all accounts she was very lively, loved dancing and swimming. She swam the Kanawa (pronounced KANOE) River.

When she met grandpa, Charles Edward McCune, she weighed only 90 pounds. He was 6-foot tall and weighed about 225. Grandpa was from Oak Hill, West Virginia, and had been trained in business school.

They moved many times after they were married while raising their family. As far as we can track it, it was as follows:

Morgantown, West Virginia, where grandpa worked in the steel mills.

Ward, Summerley, Harewood, Beardsfork, and Belbern, West Virginia where grandpa worked the shaft mines.

Their next move was to Argalite, Kentucky where grandpa commuted into Riteman, Ohio where he worked in a box factory. My mom met my dad when the family lived in Argalite.

They moved to Demsey, West Virginia (Laurel Creek) and grandpa worked the truck mines.

They moved to Oak Hill, West Virginia, where grandpa worked odd jobs.

In 1955, they moved to Norfolk, Virginia and Grandpa worked at Henderson's filling station.

They moved to California (San Gabriel Canyon) and grandpa worked managing Happy Jack's Fish Farm. This is also the town where Carol McCune (the youngest of the children) met Ray Smith.

How Aunt Betty met Uncle Tommy (Bryson). Aunt Betty was living with James & Barb in Norfolk, Virginia and she was working at the Naval Air Station canteen. Uncle Tommy was stationed at the boat house and used to flirt with her while he made purchases. On their first date, they went to the Colley Avenue Drive In and saw an Abbott and Costello movie. They were married on May 4, 1943.

Aunt Carol was the baby of the family and was loved by all. Grandpa nicknamed her "mousemeat" because she was so tiny. Of course her brothers and sister teased her a bit about it. One day when she was about 6 years old, she came home from town crying. When asked what was wrong, she said the man at the grocery store called her a name. He called her "rat bait" and broke her little heart. The nickname was retired and not used again.

Great-grandpa, Elisha Wellman, was a coal miner by trade. But, to earn extra money, he would catch rattlesnakes and sell them to carnivals. He retired to Honeywell, Kentucky to farm tabacco.

Grandma McCune used to tell the story of how her baby sister, Francis died. It must have haunted her because she'd tell it over and over through the years. It was winter, and grandma was the woman of the house (her mother died young and Aunt Lottie had moved away). Her sister Francis and a little friend somehow caught on fire from the fireplace. Grandma beat the flames with her hands but could not put her out. She did end up in the snow. But did not survive.