Four Generations – Introduction – The Farleys and Hales

I write this for those who are interested in ancestry . . . as I have become in recent times, motivated in great part by Leslie’s work with our family history. When I was much younger I didn’t give it much thought, and that’s probably the way most people are.

There were times, though, that I wondered about my ancestors: I knew who they were, birth and death dates, etc., but I didn’t know much else — what they did in life, their personalities, how they viewed the world, and the rest. Simple data such as one would find in old documents and photo leaves a lot to the imagination. And I have regretted not knowing more about their personalities, lifestyles and family connections.

Someday, when my grandchildren and their children and those beyond are mature adults, they may wonder about the early generations of family. In that interest, here are memories and impressions of those of whom my own children know very little. I leave it to my kids and their kids to pass along to later generations of the family their impressions of their grandparents and myself and Carol.

What follows is a narrative of my memories of those who were the eldest in my family when I was a small child. Since the eldest of these date back to the time of the Civil War, I thought it might be of interest to my descendants who know of that time only through history books, film documentaries and the rest. Actually, there’s not a lot to write about, but it’s much more than the scant letters and other documents of my forebears that I have been able to see.

I should have started this long ago, so that Alice and Dave could have contributed. As it is, these words are slanted by who I am, so they may be short on accuracy. But in fact, I believe not. I had talked with Alice and Dave about our forebears enough to know that we were “in sync” regarding our collective memories of these ancestors. Here, then, are my best recollections of people I wish you could know today. I’ll begin with those ancestors who came first in time: my two great-grandmothers.

Four Generations of Family

Four Generations – Introduction

I write this for those who are interested in ancestry . . . as I have become in recent times. When I was much younger I didn’t give it much thought, and that’s probably the way most people are. There were times, though, that I wondered about my ancestors.

Alice Jane Jameson

Alice Hite was my great-grandmother, my father’s maternal grandmother, born in 1856. I knew her. To me — a young child — she was the literal definition of ancient. She died in April 1941, when I was 9 years old.

Catherine Elam

Born in 1852, Catherine Elam Hale was my great-grandmother, my mother’s paternal grandmother. In her later years she lived with my Hale grandparents near Princewick, near Beckley in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

Frederick Lee Farley

Fred Farley (my paternal grandfather) born in 1879 and died in 1945, was a well-spoken man who grew up around Kanawha Falls, West Virginia. He was a friendly, outgoing man who loved a good laugh, loved to play a card game called Setback, and loved to tease his young grandchildren. Everyone loved Fred Farley.

Lelia Mabel Hite

Lelia Farley (my paternal grandmother) was born in 1884 and died in 1945. Although I spent a lot of days and years with her close by, we were never close — that is, we never shared ideas or personal thoughts. While she was always a little aloof, and had a limited sense of humor, underneath there was a spark of kindness that made our relationship a friendly one.

Effie Allen Rice

Effie Allen Rice Hale, my mother’s mother, was born in Eastern Kentucky in 1887. She married quite young and moved to West Virginia with her young husband, Henry Hale. By the time I knew her, she was in my eyes “old.” I remember her very well — knew her for a long time, since I was 47 years old when she died in 1978.

Henry Orville Hale

Henry Hale, my mother’s father, was born in Greenup County, KY in 1883, and died in 1966. Like Nanny Hale, he was a product of the Appalachian mountain culture: a tough person for tough times. He was a coal miner and farmer who, until his late sixties, never knew anything other than hard work.

Willis Hite Farley

Willis was born at Kanawha Falls, West Virginia, a small town on the Kanawha River about 50 miles east of Charleston. He grew up in Alderson, West Virginia, another small town — with an estimated population of about 1,500 at that time — in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, on the banks of the Greenbrier River.

Audrey Vellence Hale

Audrey Farley (my mother) was born in Cannel City, Kentucky on June 6, 1908, the daughter of Henry Orville Hale and Effie Rice Hale. She was the third of ten children. I don’t know much about her early life, except that she grew up in the coal mine communities of southern West Virginia, with a house full of brothers and sisters.

David Hale Farley

My brother David was born in 1927, his parents, Willis and Audrey, up against it in the oncoming Great Depression. I don’t know much about David’s early years except his brief recounts to me of those times. His earliest years were neither happy nor otherwise; he was a child of the down times., My brother David was born in 1927, his parents, Willis and Audrey, up against it in the oncoming Great Depression. I don’t know much about David’s early years except his brief recounts to me of those times. His earliest years were neither happy nor otherwise; he was a child of the down times.

Alice Karen Farley

Alice and I, twins of course, were born in Winding Gulf, West Virginia on September 1, 1931. I’ve written about Alice in other pieces, and will take this space to tell you a little about her adult years.

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