Category Archives: Ohio County Public Library Archives

Archiving Wheeling Local History Researcher Ohio County Public Library Archives

A Man of More Than Usual Brilliancy

Erin Rothenbuehler February 8, 2021February 24, 2021 1 Comment 4608 Views

The Life, Career, and Fall of Dr. B.H. Stillyard

PROLOGUE

On February 2, 2021, we presented a Lunch With Books Livestream program for the Ohio County Public Library, exploring the lives, times, and achievements of nine leaders of Wheeling’s African American community during the era of “Jim Crow” segregation, including: barber Henry Boose Clemens; police officer William Alexander Turner; firefighter Ashby Jackson; attorney Harry H. Jones; medical doctors Boswell Henson Stillyard, Julia Katherine Pronty Davis; Robert Maceo Hamlin; and Alga Wade Hamlin; and musician Will H. Dixon.

This post, about Dr. B.H. Stillyard (1847-1916), will serve as the first supplement to our livestream video. An additional supplement will be posted soon.

A Self-Taught Man

Wheeling Physician Dr. Boswell H. Stillyard, Crisis Magazine, March 1917

Boswell Henson Stillyard was born January 1, 1847, in Port Tobacco, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC. The Crisis magazine, official publication of the NAACP, noted that Stillyard was “of slave parentage.” Yet, “He was an ambitious and self-taught man. He would sit up at night in a fireless room wrapped in a quilt that he might learn how to read and write.” [1]

At the age of 29, Stillyard was admitted to Howard University, an historically black college located in Washington, D.C., where he studied from 1876 through 1877. Between 1879 and 1881, he attended Union College in Albany, N.Y. studying with the medical department. He transferred back to Howard University, entering the medical college there in 1881. [2] While there, he wrote a paper published in Galliard’s Medical Journal titled, “Hydatids from disease of the chorion.” [3]

After graduating from Howard in 1882, Stillyard came to Wheeling, which at the time, was still the state capital of West Virginia. Charleston, would not become the permanent capital for another three years, in 1885. Shortly before Stillyard arrived in Wheeling, the West Virginia Board of Health had just been established by an Act pushed through state legislation by Dr. James Edmund Reeves. [4] Read More

Archiving Wheeling Local History Author Ohio County Public Library Archives

Welcome Home

Seán Duffy December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 1 Comment 4347 Views

Wheeling’s Doughboy is Back and Better than Ever

The Wheeling Doughboy as he looked on the crisp, sunny morning of December 10, 2020. The wreath, created by Wheeling's Barbara Pirhalla, included red poppies. — The Wheeling Doughboy as he looked on the crisp, sunny morning of December 10, 2020. The wreath, created by Wheeling’s Barbara Pirhalla, included red poppies.

In 1918, American soldiers – “Doughboys,” as they were known, probably because of their dusty uniforms during the war with Mexico 70 years prior – filled training facilities like Virginia’s Camp Lee in preparation for entering the European conflict that would one day be termed “World War I.”

But our Doughboys were already at war with a microscopic enemy – a deadly H1N1 virus misnamed “Spanish Flu.” These soldiers faced the prospect of war during a worldwide pandemic thought to have originated, not in Spain, but in an American military training camp. By the end of that fateful year, influenza would claim some 45,000 American soldiers (many before they completed basic training), nearly as many as the 53,000 killed in the trenches of France. Read More

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives

A Crash of Coincidences

Archiving Wheeling March 31, 2020April 1, 2020 2 Comments 6184 Views

-Written by Seán P. Duffy with research by Erin Rothenbuehler

Notre Dame and Wheeling Linked by Tragedy

Eighty-nine years ago today, on March 31, 1931, a Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 commercial wood-frame airplane crashed in a remote cow pasture near Bazaar, Kansas. All eight people on board, including six passengers and two pilots, were killed.

The tragedy included a series of coincidences that forever united the fates of two very different men.

One was legendary Notre Dame football coach, Knute Rockne, who was killed on his way to Hollywood to participate in the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame.

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And the other was the humble son of a “truck gardener” from Wheeling, West Virginia.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

Breaking the “Grippe” – Wheeling During the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic

Archiving Wheeling March 20, 2020March 25, 2020 11 Comments 17581 Views

-Written and researched by Seán P. Duffy and Erin Rothenbuehler

Schools were closed. So were restaurants, amusement parks, theatres, movie houses, and even the public library. Hotels sat empty. Meetings, parties, and society events were canceled. Sporting events postponed. People were told to stay in their homes. Even church services were canceled.

Sound familiar?

We’ve been here before, more than a century ago, when the “Spanish Influenza,” aka the “Spanish Flu,” aka the “Grippe,” struck Wheeling and the rest of the planet in the fall of 1918. Read More

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives

“No Colored Employees…” Surveys of Jim Crow Wheeling

Seán Duffy February 17, 2020February 17, 2020 Leave a Comment 8729 Views

Featured Image - Surveys of Jim Crow Wheeling

Note: The following article references documents from 1927-1931, when Wheeling was a “Jim Crow” city still segregated by race. Some of the terms used are offensive to modern sensibilities. The original terms have been retained for historical context and accuracy.

One of the most important collections housed in the Ohio County Public Library’s Archives is undoubtedly the Wheeling YWCA collection. The organization’s current mission statement includes “eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all,” but during the reign of “Jim Crow” segregation, the YWCA was required to have a separate branch to provide activities and programs for African American girls and women. The “Blue Triangle” was located in a house on 12th Street, and its records are among the most important of those housed in the YWCA Collection.

In addition to photographs and documents related to its regular programs, the Blue Triangle collection contains numerous primary source documents with vital demographic information about Wheeling’s African American community during the “Jim Crow” period.
Read More

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: February 25, 1919 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling February 25, 2019February 27, 2019 Leave a Comment 3895 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 63

“That telegram you about the Less must of been correct for he got hurt about the 20 of Oct. He surly is not living or he would write to you & Minnie…”

In his twenty-first letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his sixth letter home from France, dated February 25, 1919, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that they are having a good bit of rain in France. He’s read that his division will finally sail for home in May. He’s glad because he hopes the sea will be less rough in a few months. The trip will be smoother with less chance of seasickness. It took 14 days to get to France. Dutch thinks the return trip will be faster. Dutch has finally been informed about the telegram announcing the death of Lester Scott, but he still hasn’t been able to find out anything from the Army.

Elsewhere on the same day, future professional baseball hall of famer Monte Irvin, one of the best players to make the switch from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues after Jackie Robinson, was born.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twenty-first letter home, dated 100 years ago today, February 25, 1919.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: January 26, 1919 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling January 26, 2019February 27, 2019 Leave a Comment 2018 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 62

“I am getting all the wine I want over here. It is cheap here. 60 cent a quart. It wont hardly make a fellow light-headed but it is good-tasting. The whiskey is no good here. I never drink a drop of it…..”

In his twentieth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his fifth letter home from France, dated January 26, 1919, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that, despite being homesick, he is well and hearty and feeling fine. They are stuck in France taking care of 107 horses and mules. Dutch wants to get back to farming by spring. He is getting all the cheap wine he wants but the French whiskey is no good. He still hasn’t heard anything about Les [the family back home received a death notice by telegram dated January 8]. He’s heard a rumor that Les died, and another rumor from Tib Meriner that Les was back at Camp Lee. He’s not sure when he’ll get to leave for home.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twentieth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, January 26, 1919.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives

Stone & Thomas: The Host of Christmas Past

Archiving Wheeling December 25, 2018December 25, 2018 4 Comments 6807 Views

The Stone & Thomas sponsored Christmas Train, Parade, and Open House of 1958.

This time of year, it is the Ghost of Christmas Past who visits Ebenezer Scrooge, accompanying him on a trip down memory lane in the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol.” A story we are all familiar with, the ethereal being takes the miserly businessman on a journey to earlier times, offering him glimpses of, well, Christmases past.

This Christmas, we offer you glimpses of a Wheeling Christmas sixty years past, courtesy Stone & Thomas, our Host of Christmas Past. This nostalgic look back at our past comes not through a ghostly encounter, but via a recent addition to the Ohio County Public Library Archives, a scrapbook put together by Joe A. Funk. Funk was, for many years, the director of public relations and advertising for Stone & Thomas Department Store and is credited with directing the first Stone & Thomas sponsored Christmas parade in Wheeling. This particular scrapbook documents the 1958 Stone & Thomas Santa Claus Train, Christmas Parade, and Open House held Saturday, November 22, 1958.

Itinerary for the day’s Christmas-themed events, November 22, 1958

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: December 16, 1918 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling December 16, 2018January 22, 2019 Leave a Comment 2139 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 61

“I think the war is over for good don’t you? For I think them Germans won’t want another war very soon the way they got beat in this one….”

In his nineteenth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his fourth letter home from France, dated December 16, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that he’s been worried about his family back home about because of that “disease raging” [a reference to the 1918 influenza or “Spanish Flu” pandemic, fueled in part by troop movements during the war, that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide]. He wants to know if they’ve heard anything about his brother-in-law Les Scott [who had actually died on October 29, but neither Dutch nor his family would learn of this until January]. He knows Les was taken to the hospital and heard once that he might have died, but Dutch hopes his friend is somehow still alive. He’d seen Les about a week before he was injured but couldn’t talk because the German shelling was too intense. He’s not sure when they’ll get to come home, but hopes maybe sometime in the winter. He can’t talk about his experiences on the front until he gets home, except to say he was in the fight for 50 straight days and nights.

Elsewhere on the same day, German forces continued to withdraw from places like Finland, Kiev, and Estonia, and a “spectacular procession” and “stunning” woman suffrage protest was held in Washinton, D.C. on the anniversary of the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his nineteenth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, December 16, 1918.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: November 25, 1918 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling November 27, 2018December 14, 2018 Leave a Comment 2637 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 60

“I can’t tell you about Less. He got badly hurt and they took him to the hospital. I heard once he died, but I don’t know if that was correct or not. I hope it wasn’t correct for I would like to went back to the states with him…”

In his eighteenth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his third letter home from France, dated November 25, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle he’s sorry he hasn’t written. He didn’t have much time to write while he was on the front, but now that the war is over, he has all kinds of time. He can’t wait to see the “good old states” again. Dutch had some narrow escapes on the front but came out without a scratch. A good many men from the 314th got hurt, but only four were killed. He has no news about Les. He was badly hurt and taken to the hospital. Dutch heard Les might have died. He hopes that isn’t true. He would like to go back to the states together. Les drove the rolling kitchen for Battery A. Dutch would like to be home for Thanksgiving and hunt rabbit. He and Tib Meriner had been hunting hogs. He’d like to get some good apples for winter. He doesn’t think there will be another war any time soon. They drove the “Dutch” 48 miles in 50 days.

Charles Riggle sent this letter a full two weeks after the armistice ending the Great War was signed in Paris. Elsewhere on that same day, Major General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck of Germany, known affectionately as “The Lion of Africa,” finally surrendered his forces in German East Africa. He had employed a guerrilla, bush-fighting style with his African Askari troops (he spoke fluent Swahili) to harass and confuse British forces, allowing him to exit from the war as the only undefeated military commander on either side. He later led a conservative opposition to Hitler and would have died in poverty but for a small pension organized by his former British and South African enemies.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his eighteenth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, November 25, 1918.