Reclaimed Memories
ca. 1926

oller skating was quite a fad in those days and on the last day of February in 1926 I took my skates to a neighbor's to get a companion for skating. Troy, along with several other young people, was there. Troy did not seem to have any particular girl friend there and he "shined up" to me. I was attracted to him also. He was quite gifted musically. He could play the guitar better than anyone I had ever heard and he really demonstrated his skill on some difficult marches that afternoon. I know now that he was just trying to impress me. He certainly succeeded! The group decided to go car riding and invited me to go along. There was not enough room for all of us and Troy said I could sit on his lap.

When he helped me on with my coat he kissed me on the cheek and without a second's thought I slapped him. Nice girls just did not allow a fellow to kiss them the first time they met. He now says that at that instant he became more than a little interested in me. Before we parted that night we had a date for the next night. We were together almost every evening until he became so homesick that he returned to his grandmother's home in Junior, West Virginia, in March. After his mother's death in 1921, most of his time during the rest of his high school days had been spent with her.

After Troy graduated from Belington High School he borrowed enough money to come to Parkersburg and go to Mt. State Business College. He secured a room with a family by the name of Wyatt, who lived at 521 Ann Street While in school he worked for his board and $3.00 a week at "John's Place," which was much the same as our quick food places today. John was a Greek and for the family and the help he prepared special foods, mostly stews, which Troy enjoyed. John said that hamburgers and hot dogs, so popular with Americans, were not fit to eat.

When I met Troy he was employed in the office of the West Virginia State Road Commission. I guess we were both just typical teenagers, but I think he was a little less practical than I. Of course he was a "working man" so he felt at liberty to go in debt so that he could have nice clothing. I was a senior in high school, so could not have secured credit had I tried. He had an abundance of nice clothing, which also impressed me. I did not know that I was going to have to help him finish paying for them after our marriage.

After we met we saw each other almost every night until he returned to Junior, where he was born and where his family was living at that time. Before I met him I had been dating Charles Marshall. He did not have a car so we went to the movies almost every night and ended up at an ice cream parlor, until he had to move on with his construction company to a new location.

Shortly after Troy left Parkersburg, Ralph came along and our dates were mostly car rides. He had a model T Ford which he taught me to drive. He took me to my high school graduation and after it was over we went for a car ride. Mother carried my diploma home for me. From what I read and hear today I know that the boys I went with had a lot more respect for girls than the fellows do today. I was taught that nice girls did not kiss until engaged. I am sure that holding to what we had been taught kept a lot of us out of trouble.

Since Troy was experienced in restaurant work, he secured a job right away in Elkins. He worked in Colebank's Restaurant for a short time for his board and $50.00 a month. His uncle by marriage, Ford Valentine, was assessor of Monongalia County, W. Va. Kendall Lumber Company was then operating in this county and their lumber settlement, with its office and store was called Cheat Neck, but the mailing address was Cheat Haven, Pennsylvania. Uncle Ford learned that the company was wanting a bookkeeper and he recommended Troy. When Troy interviewed for the job he secured it. So it was to Cheat Haven that most of my letters to him were addressed.

When he came back to see me on the 30th of May we decided that we would get married on July 4th, which came on Sunday, that year of 1926. He had come with a young man by the name of Ray Lenhart, whose brother worked in the company store. Ray teamed up with Elma that weekend and the four of us did the usual thing! We went for a car ride to Elizabeth.

Looking back on the events of those days it is hard for me to understand why my parents did not "lay down the law" to me and say, "You do not know that young man well enough to marry him!" I knew only what he told me about his family. I had never seen any of them! But we were two teenagers in love and probably nothing they could have said would have stopped us.

Charles Marshall, who had moved on to another location, also came back for the weekend of the 30th. I had been writing to both boys, but Charles knew that I was more interested in Troy. I was terribly sorry that he came and found Troy there, for I knew he was hurt. I had never encouraged him in thinking that our relationship could ever develop beyond the "friendship" stage. He was moving around from one construction site to another and he had to help his mother financially. She was a widow and Charles was the oldest child. He sent her money each pay day. He did not have a car. Ralph Wilson had his own Model T Ford and our dates were mostly car rides each evening. He taught me to drive the Ford. He left Parkersburg right after my graduation from high school.

(Since writing the above I looked through my old high school "Memory Book" and under "Graduation Gifts," I have discovered that Charles Marshall sent me a wrist watch and that Ralph Wilson gave me a two and one-half dollar gold piece. There is no gift listed from Troy! The skin-flint! Why did I favor him so much? His irresistible charm, I guess.)

NEXT - MARRIAGE

The Brady Trilogy  I  Reclaimed Memories - (1991)  I  Pop Troy's Anthology - ( 1992)  I  Kinfolk - (1994)