LEOPOLD MEMORIES
THROUGH THE EYES OF
A.W. MCNEMAR
Arley Wade McNemar was the son of George W. and Amanda M. Lake McNemar. He was born October 3, 1890, in Gilmer County, WV. He lived with his parents and his family in a little village by the name of Leopold, Doddridge County when he was about ten years old, where his father was the village blacksmith.
On April 22, 1913, Arley married Golda Ernestine Whytsell in Sutton, Braxton County, from which his bride was born on September 30, 1895. Their children numbered seven whose names were:
Wendell McNemar, who was born on September 25, 1914, and died on December 30, 1988; Allegra L. McNemar who was born on November 12, 195, and died on September 29, 1967; Denzil C. McNemar, who was born February 22, 1917; Hazel J. McNemar, who was born on July 22, 1918, and died on August 13, 2003; Marjorie McNemar, who was born on January 18, 1920, and died on September 1995; Eloise McNemar, who was born on October 14, 1921, and died on May 25, 2005; Jean C. McNemar, who was born about 1926.
Many years later, an A. W. McNemar reminisced about his time at the Leopold School and his time in the Leopold community. I believe that this was the same A. W. McNemar mentioned above. If anyone should have information to the contrary, please let us know so that we can correct our information.
He said that he attended school in a little one-room school located on the Kreyenbuhl farm. He was only ten years of age but remembered his schoolmates and others by name – George, Willie, John, Pete, James Silas, Fanny Wanstreet, “Lafe” and Johnny Hinter, Agnes, Lucy, Lizzie and Theodore Kreyenbuhl, Cora, Ella, and Walker Richards, Henry, John and Ellen Fisher, Delta, Bessie and Clyde Adams, George, and Lura Burton.
W. M. Burton was our teacher. The old school building was still standing in 1962 but has since been torn down. The photo above was taken when A. W. was 21 years old and naturally, he was not in the photo, however, it is of the school building to which he is referring.
“Oh, what memories come to my mind,” he sighed as he once again looked at it in 1962.
Dr. McKinley was the village physician. He said that he had often heard his parents speak about the good neighbors of Leopold.
He became a teacher and taught 36 terms, retiring about 1958, but still did some substituting occasionally. He said he would have loved to have heard from any of his students. (No doubt, he said, he had missed the names of some of the students who also attended while he was there.)
He said that he had often wondered what they were doing and where they were then living. He hoped that some of them would see the article and contact him. He hoped that they would do that. I don’t know if any of them ever did.
He said that he and his wife left Burnsville (where he lived at the time of the article) and drove to Central Station which was a distance of about 61 miles. On Route 18 South, they passed the old school building. He admitted that he did a little meditation on his former days. He said he was only five years old when he started school. His parents gave him an old Barker’s Almanac, which he took with him to school.
“School wasn’t anything like I had pictured in my mind,” he laughed. “Every day for a week or so, I would pretend to get sick. The teacher would send me home. I wouldn’t walk. Therefore, he would send a large boy home with me. I would put my arms around his neck and ride him home. This was an event I looked forward to. It became monotonous to the boys and my rides were discontinued. This caused me to become very much dissatisfied.
In a short time, I became acquainted with the small boys and girls. My love for school began to grow. My teacher made me feel like I was really a part of the school activities. My attitude for school became built up to a very high pitch.
You who attended the little one-room school just below Leopold will remember how patient Mr. W. M. Burton was with us. Very few teachers ever succeeded in instilling into the minds of boys and girls the real virtues of life as he did. He spent over forty years in the schoolroom. His funeral was conducted in the Leopold school building.”
When McNemar padded by his casket, he said that he thought of the many things he had tried to do for me. He had been his teacher for 10 years of his young life.
The Leopold store had been moved. The owner was one of his schoolmates. His name was John Wanstreet.
He said that his old home had been torn down. A part of the chimney was still standing. The Hinter home was still standing and has been well cared for. The Burton home had been changed somewhat. The home of Dr. McKinley was then occupied by John Wanstreet.
The creek that ran nearby was much smaller than he remembered it to be. He wondered if it was in reality made to be smaller or was his memory of it in reality tempered by his adulthood.
He remembered that someone from Troy every few days would pass through Leopold on their way to Porto Rico with a light carriage with a load of beef for sale, selling it for 8 and 10 cents per pound. Anyone could buy it. They had scales that they carried with them to weigh the meat being sold.
He said that sometimes he would offer his services, just for the ride to Porto Rico.
“Those days were quite different from our present ones,” he said. “I believe they were more pleasant than now. Our hats were the only things over our heads. Now we have bombs and missiles flying, and God only knows what may happen (in the future).”
God Bless,
Patricia Richards Harris, President
Doddridge County Historical Society