Comments on: Janice Nease: Remembering the past, working for the future

By: Almyra

Almyra — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:42:02 +0000

Hi
my mother’s maiden name was Nease. She was the daughter of William D. Nease from Illinois but relocated to Phelps County MO (St. James). My Grandaughter (5 weeks old) is the 6th generation to live on the property owned by the Nease Family. I bet we ae some relation, I have the family tree for the Nease Family if you would be interested.

By: Debra Bechard (shumate)

Debra Bechard (shumate) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:50:03 +0000

Janice, My nme is Debra . My mom Ruby Shumate grew up in Kayford. i don’t know if you new the Shumate family. If so could you give me any information on them. I am looking for my moms family.
Thank you
Debra Bechard

By: Ronda Elliott

Ronda Elliott — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 03:29:07 +0000

Janice,

I think this is a strange coincidence. I am doing a college assignment on cultural diversity. I stumbled accross your article while researching. It just so happens that my mother and father’s family were from Kayford, and later Cabin Creek.

Are you familiar with the Short family? With the Kidd family? I’ll ask my family if they have a rememberance of your family.

Great story. You have much passion for the place you love.

By: John D.

John D. — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:09:49 +0000

I noticed the new mining operations you mentioned while visiting family in Sharon last fall (I’ll be there again in a week). It’s disgusting, a blight on the environment.

My brother and I took a drive up Cabin Creek Road to see where family used to live in Eskdale. To our surprise, the entire town is GONE. Even the train yards are no more. The mine pulled out, and closed up this once-thriving community.

Yet the coal trains keep rolling every day, back and forth with their loads of black gold. But the railroads won’t invest in West Virgina, either, leaving the tracks rusting and ready to crumble. Doing just enough to help bleed it dry.

This beautiful country is filled with beautiful people. Proud. Honest. Hard-working. Everything we hold dear.

I’m proud to have been born there to great parents who were forced to leave in the 50’s to support our family. Even then, the only jobs were in the mines or for the railroad. Both honorable professions that had claimed the lives of many in our family. And things have grown progressively worse as the young have been forced to flee to find work.

It’s time we quit flying over this oasis in our heartland, and begin standing up for its people and the environment that mining threatens to ruin forever.

The only answer is to find ways to draw entrepreneurial and corporate efforts back to the hills, along with industries that can be sustained and grow even in the remote regions off the beaten track. To stop the brain drain, and put it to work to make this again into a vibrant contributor to the national economy in more ways than just mining coal.

Though I do not live there now (family still does), I am a lawyer, author, and national speaker and offer my support to the movement if they should care to call.

In the meantime, I encourage all of you to drive through the mountains and see what they’re doing. It’s worse than the strip minining that took so long to stop many years ago.

God bless the mountains. And the people who call them their home.

By: M. Kathleen

M. Kathleen — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:45:45 +0000

Eloquently stated. You brought tears to my eyes. Keep up the passion…prayers are with you. KNG

By: Andy Ray

Andy Ray — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:57:52 +0000

Fabulous writer. Keep up the spirit. Preserve our home land.

By: Patricia Sanders

Patricia Sanders — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:00:37 +0000

I found your words while looking for others with a love of West Virginia. A few years ago I visited a former classmate at her mountain home in WV for a weekend. I ended up going up until I found the right place for me. My cabin sits on a ridge and I have a a lovely view of the farms and valleys of a nearby town. My area of the Panhandle is so beautiful and peaceful, and is inhabited by the kindest people I’ve met anywhere. I haven’t been called “honey” so much since my mother died. Buying a home in West Virginia is the best thing I ever did for myself. I retired a year ago and am loving life on my ridge. Stopping mountain top removal should be a state priority - in the name of historic preservation.

By: AlleganyMaeve

AlleganyMaeve — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:08:08 +0000

I come from Western Maryland, also a part of Appalachia. I believe Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining has begun in that area near Barton, Maryland. I looked on Google Earth and it sure looks that way. I have tried to get the local newspaper to investigate, but no one is interested in finding out what is going on. There are few jobs there and people are afraid to cause a disturbance.

By: Patricia Bryant

Patricia Bryant — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 04:32:45 +0000

I just stumbled across your comments - I was brought to tears. I grew up Greenbrier County, WV, and fear for the timeless beauty of all mountain regions. Thanks for confronting the inaccurate stereotypes about one of the loveliest places in the US.

By: Michelle Schlueter

Michelle Schlueter — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:22:18 +0000

Ms. Nease, thank you… I’ll probably cry the rest of the day, but thank you. I moved from western Virginia a few years ago to North Carolina and I miss my mountain home…how much more I’ll miss it when it’s all gone and too late to save…