Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
More than likely, most readers have never heard of Warren Reff Ross, the Blind Man, who was the son of Joseph William and Pheobe E. Hoover Ross. (Phoebe had been born and grew up in the Brandywine community, where she had many Hoover relatives). Reff was born in 1884 in the Hinton community of Rockingham County, Virginia. His father came to Rockingham County as a section hand on the railroad and later worked at the Houck Tannery in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He was buried in 1899 in the Cherry Grove community of the same county, having contracted typhoid fever and pneumonia. The family had difficulty paying $5.00 for his coffin, so the Church of the Brethren and the Overseer of the Poor helped the family out.
Reff Ross was born blind and the 1900 census shows him living at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton, Virginia. He could neither read or write; however, he did learn to read Braille and write while living at the VSDB. In 1910, he was with his grandmother, Betty Hoover, in the Bethel District of Pendleton County. He was known as a musician, playing the guitar at the Hoover reunions, according to Naomi Hoover Michael. She notes that he was a very kind man and could really play the guitar along with her husband, Ray. Reff reported that he was a self-employed musician in the Harrisonburg, Virginia, area.
Reff was required to register for the World War I draft in June 1917. He claimed an exemption for the draft due to his blindness, being explicit that his “sight in both eyes are gone.” His physical description was that he had blue eyes, fair hair and was of medium build.
In the 1920 census, Regg was living in the Brandywine area with Robert and Jane Simmons, along with their household of six children. He listed that this was a family cousin and that he was a music teacher.
Whenever Reff entertained, he had a card with a poem of the Little Orphan Girl available for people to take and to encourage donations of “any amount.”
“The Little Orphan Girl
No home, no home, cried a little girl,
As she stood at the princess’ hall,
As she trembling stood on the polished steps,
And leaned on the marble wall.
My father, alas, I never knew;
The tears in her eyes shone bright.
My mother, she sleeps in the new made grave,
‘Tis an orphan that begs tonight.
Her clothes were thin, her feet were bare,
The snow had covered her head,
Oh, give me a home she feebly said
A home and a crust of bread.
The rich man sleeps on his velvet couch,
And dreams of his silver and gold,
While the poor little girl on her bed of snow
Murmured, so cold, so cold.
The night was dark and the wind was high,
The rich man closed his door;
His proud lips curled as he scornfully said
No home, nor bread for the poor.
The morning dawned and the little girl
Still lay at the rich man’s door,
But her soul had fled to its home above,
Where there is room and bread for the poor.”
Much of this information came by way of Dale MacAllister who writes the Shenandoah Folklore Valley Society newsletter, Naomi Michael, and the late Gertrude Mitchell.
Life’s important instructions to live by include the following:
- Learn to admit a mistake
- Take time to get to know an older person, interview them.
- Learn how to sew on a button
- Take note of the needs around one, and plan to address them.
- Learn how to do laundry.
This past week has been quite an interesting April week. Rain was cruel and relentless. Minor snow showers, along with hail, were introduced later on in the week. The mountain winds kept everything and everyone shivering. Fireplaces and furnaces have been a respite to the freezing temperatures.
Quotes for the week are as follows:
“Our spring has come at last with the soft laughter of April suns and shadows of April showers.” — Byron Caldwell Smith
“Ever look at someone and think, “Why has no one hit you with a shovel yet?” — Lucielle Ball
“Oh, the lovely fickleness of an April day.” — W.H. Gibson
“April is the time to turn over a new leaf.” — Terri Guillemets
“April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks, ‘Go!’” — Christopher Morley
Sitting by the fireplace is a good place to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
Karla and Jim Moats, along with their children, Tuesday and Brian, and Montana and Troy, have returned from a Portugal vacation. Their grandson, Cedar, made the trip extra special for them all.
Saturday evening, St. John Lutheran Church hosted a sleepover for the church youth and friends. The action- packed evening came with pizza, games, bounce house, crafts, prizes, critters, movies, popcorn, lots and lots of laughs, and little ones mustering up the courage to stay all night (and they did-Yay!). Sounds like everyone had lots of fun!
Justin, April, Chloe and Colby Simmons enjoyed Easter weekend in Charleston. While there, they attended the baseball games.
Cleo Smith Simmons celebrated her 100th birthday with a Sunday party at the Brethren church social hall in Staunton, Virginia. Even though she insisted not to have a party, she really enjoyed the time spent with family, after it was all said and done. Cleo was one of 12 children, and all of her siblings’ families (except one) were represented at her wonderful celebration. Those attending from this neck of the woods were Delbert and Betty Rexrode, Erma Moats, Evelyn Varner, Karen, Ronnie and Wanda Pitsenbarger, Joann Moyers, Sandra Simmons, Violet Eye, K.D. Puffenbarger and Phil Downs.
Eugene Varner also attended the Easter dinner last Saturday at the home of Joyce and Robin Marshall in McGaheysville, Virginia.
Joyce Marshall brought her granddaughter, Alli Kesterson, to visit her great-grandmother, Evelyn Varner, Sunday afternoon.
This week’s clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- The ancient Egyptians invented the 365-days a year calendar to predict the yearly floodings of the Nile River.
- Australia is home to 21 of the world’s 25 most venomous snakes.
- There is alleged to be a 30-40 foot long “monster” in Lake Erie named Bessie. The earliest recorded sighting goes back as early as 1793.
- Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant, growing 35 inches a day.
- There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way.
More April birthdays to check on: Dakota Grogg and Brody Wimer, 16th; David Thornberry and Brenda Propst, 17th; Phil Rader and Anna Mauzy. 18th; Paul Cunningham, 19th; Mike Propst, 20th; Evelyn Varner, Gary Nesselrodt and Linda Simmons, 22nd; Ronald Pitsenbarger, 24th; Sherri Chambers, 26th; Jackie Koontz, 27th; Myrtle Hoover, Marcus Smith and Carl Simmons, 29th; and Jim Rexrode and Justin Simmons, 30th.
Concerns for this week are as follows: Bob Adamson, Rick Adkins, John Ashley, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Lynn Beatty, “Bo” Boggs, Jane Conrad, Marie Cole, Christian Dasher, Benny Evick, Isaac Eye, Linda Eye, Marie Eye, Mary Eye, Neal Eye, Carl Gant, Loralee Gordon, Lola Graham, Patsy Green, JC Hammer, Marlene Harman, Marvin Hartman, the Woodrow Hartman family, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Grace Hedrick, Tim Hively, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, Virgil Homan, Jr., Doris Hoops, Adelbert Hoover, Keith Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Debbie and Enos Horst, Lisa and Mike Jamison, Jessica Janney, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Ruthaleen Judy, Marsha Keller, Kim Kline, the Jack Koontz family, Ginger Knight, Tracie Knight, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Ronnie Lambert, Rex Landis, Roger and Skip Mallow, Yvonne Marsh, Ed May, Gary McDonald, Neil McLaughlin, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Tom Mitchell, Barbara Moats, John Morford, Helen Nash, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Cheryl Paine, Wanda Pitsenbarger, Alda Propst, John O. Propst, Kathy Propst, Mike Propst, Sheldon Propst, Stanley Propst, Tom Rader, Brandon Reel, Charles Rexrode, Jason Rexrode, Jerold “Jerry” Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Dennis Riggleman, Donna Ruddle, Jenny Ruddle, Brittany Shriver, Annie Simmons, Phyllis Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Robbie Sites, Mike Skiles, Donnie Smith, Stanna Smith, Tina Stuben, Steve Stump, Elizabeth Terry, Rosa Tichenor, Sandra Vandevander, Raymond Varner, Amy Vaus, Rene White, Judy Williams, Ann Wimer and Margaret Wimer.
