A Hero Lived Among Us
Last week, I received a most interesting and enjoyable visit to the Doddridge County Museum from an amazing gentleman. His name is L. Rex Lake, and he had a great story of love, pain, and sacrifice to tell me. He said it had happened to his grandfather here in Central Station, Doddridge County on October 11, 1949. Rex has fond memories of his time spent in Central Station when he was but a lad in his early teens. However, this story was not one of them.
L. Rex Lake
I was surprised to realize that I had not heard of this story. He piqued my interest, and I knew I had to share it with you.
But, before I get into the story, let me tell you a little bit about his brave grandfather. Isaac, or “I. H.” as he was known by his family and friends, was the son of Alfred and Melvina Ables Hinzman. Born on June 27, 1896, in Lewis County, he was the youngest child of seven known children. Standing at six feet tall, he was a man with hard-working ethics. He was kind, and always willing to help someone in need. His dark tanned complexion from hours of working in the sun made him a quite handsome man.
Isaac Hinzman and his team of horses used to haul logs from the nearby forest to his sawmill.
In 1910 at the age of 13 years old, Isaac was the youngest in the household and was living with his family in Birch, Braxton County, WV. He was listed as doing farm labor. In 1912 Isaac was living in Weston, Lewis County, WV.
On February 3, 1914, Isaac married Miss Daisy Mae Metz in her home county of Calhoun. Miss Daisy was the daughter of William and Rebecca Brookover Metz. There, they made their home in Walnut, Washington District, Calhoun County, WV where Isaac continued to do what he knew most… He worked as a farmer.
By 1930, Isaac and Daisy were living in Marion County. They continued living in Marion County until the fall of 1949, when he and Daisy moved to Central Station, and established a sawmill.
He was a devoted family man, a farmer, and a lumber man. His timberwork focused on clearing trees to cut into finished boards in his sawmill which was located near his home in Central Station.
Picture ofCentral Station — Early Days
Isaac and Daisy’s daughter, Dolly, and their 8-year-old granddaughter, Sharon, were living with them at the time. Dolly was having problems with her husband, and it was said they were quarreling over something in the home in front of the 8-year-old Sharon and Daisy at the time of the incident.
Grandmother Daisy sent the small girl to get her grandfather (Isaac) who was working at the nearby sawmill. She was to ask him to come to the house because Dolly and her husband were quarreling, and Dolly was “acting up” again, and this time she had the shotgun.
Grandmother Daisy Hinzman
Isaac came immediately with only one thought in his mind, to protect his entire family and resolve the problem. He had to calm his daughter down, and get the gun… He had intervened many times before in the past. With a little luck, he should be able to do it again.
When he entered the house, he knew the explosive nature of the situation. He knew it could go sideways at any moment, but it was his wife and his daughter… and there was little Sharon who was depending on her grandfather to make things all better. What else could he do? He had to go inside. When he did, he saw 30-year-old Dolly standing in the hallway with the shotgun.
According to Dolly’s mother, Daisy, Isaac told his daughter to ‘calm down and they’d talk about this.’ He asked her to give him the gun and slowly reached out his hand. Dolly told him not to come any closer or she would shoot him.
Isaac was said to have responded to his daughter, “You wouldn’t shoot me. I’m your dad, Dolly.”
At that point, Dolly either snapped completely or the gun fired accidentally, no one will ever know for certain which, but the end result was the same. Isaac lay in a pool of blood barely alive. He had been shot in front of his wife and his 8-year-old granddaughter with a shotgun by his own daughter. He was immediately taken out of the house and the trip for medical help was underway. Unfortunately, Isaac died before they were out of Central Station.
According to newspapers, Dolly’s name was listed as Mrs. Albert Lewis. However, in other places, it is listed as Dolly Hinzman Plum. Either way, she admitted to Doddridge County Sheriff, Paul Davis, that she had shot her father, Isaac Hinzman, in an oral statement, and Dolly was taken to the Doddridge County Jail where she was held.
Dolly was found to be innocent by reason of insanity. She spent 3 years in a mental hospital for the murder.
When Dolly was released, Daisy, (Dolly’s mother) forgave her daughter and took her back into her home, possessing a love that only a mother could possess. It was the same house that Dolly had shot her father in just 3 years earlier. Somehow Grandma Daisy had found the strength to continue living in a house harboring so much pain is difficult to imagine, but she found the grace to survive, and to forgive.
It’s important to note that according to the family, Dolly and her parents had been in Fairmont just 3 days prior to visiting. When they prepared to leave for home in Central Station, Isaac’s son (Dolly’s brother and Rex’s father) told his father that Dolly was not acting right. He had always been uneasy about allowing Dolly to be around his children and never allowed his children to stay over at their grandparents’ home because they feared Dolly might harm one of them. In retrospect, his instincts were accurate. It might have saved the lives of his family by not allowing them to stay.
Isaac Harold “I. H.” Hinzman was buried in the FOP Cemetery on Merrick Road in Marion County, WV.
Dolly remarried but never quite got over that horrible incident. She died on September 7, 2004. She was living in Greenwood, WV at the time of her death and was buried at the WV National Cemetery at Pruntytown, Taylor County, WV.
It is important to understand that mental illness is a hidden illness. Blame can never be placed on the individual who suffers from its ugly affliction. It is important to seek medical help for yourself or your loved one who is afflicted with this illness in order to live a productive life.
God Bless
Patricia Richards Harris, President
Doddridge County Historical Society