The Botetourt Genealogy Club and the Botetourt County Historical Society have partnered with Homespun Legacy in sponsoring the Fourth Annual Lifewriting Contest. The contest coincides with Personal History Awareness Month in May which promotes the writing of personal histories.

This year’s contest theme is front porches, focusing on a particular front porch from the writer’s childhood. Stories must be based in Southwest Virginia and the writer must have lived in or have ties to Southwest Virginia. Entries must be at least 500 words and no more than 1,500 words, and must be postmarked between April 25 and May 31. Cash prizes will be awarded for the first-, second- and third place-winning entries. Winners will be announced during a public Writers’ Reception at the club’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday, June 18 at 6:15 p.m. at the Fincastle library. A memoir anthology of the eligible entries will be donated to the Genealogy Room of the Fincastle library.

Complete information and contest rules can be found at Homespun Legacy’s website at www.HomespunLegacy.com or by calling Susan Mason at 540-473-3998. For information about the Botetourt Genealogy Club, call Rena Worthen, president, at 473-8339 or visit the website at www.geocities.com/genclub01. For information about the Botetourt County Historical Society, call the museum at 473-8394 or visit the website at www.bothistsoc.org.

Posted by river queen at 12:03 AM PDT

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Botetourt county native, Debra Alderson McClane, has published her book, Botetourt County (VA) (Images of America). McClane pulled images from local libraries, the Botetourt County Museum, and from resources in Fincastle to create this picture history of county towns and communities, Armed Forces members, industry and commerce, schools, churches and social groups, historic homes and natural resources within Botetourt County. She also spoke with many local historians and life-long county residents for two years prior to the book’s publication.

The author comes from a long-time Botetourt County family. The Alderson family moved to the area in 1770 when John Alderson, a Baptist minister, settled here. Her parents reside on a farm in the Trinity area that has been in the family since the 18th century. Her father, John Alderson, runs a well-known insurance agency in Daleville.

McClane, a 1983 graduate of Lord Botetourt High School, said she is proud of her heritage and was delighted to be able to share it. She realized that with the Jamestown 2007 commemoration, the publication of a new Botetourt County book was prudent. When she saw an advertisement for writers for Arcadia Publishing, she decided to get to work.

McClane, along with her husband Patrick, co-authored The Architecture Of James Gamble Rogers II In Winter Park, Florida prior to the book about Botetourt County.

Source: Main Street Newspapers

Posted by river queen at 2:41 PM PST

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Fincastle Librarian Paige Ware was talking about the new genealogy fair that will be held in the fall at the Fincastle United Methodist Church Family Life Center.

Ware and Rena Worthen (pictured here) are helping to organize the genealogical event that will be Saturday, 13 October, 2007. The name of the fair is Start Exploring Your Roots, and they hope it will become an annual event. The first fair will be part of the Botetourt County’s participation in Jamestown 2007 events that are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the establishment of that English colony.

Some of those genealogical research materials that are available at the Fincastle Library include copies of the Layman family Bible, the Snyder Bible, the Kessler files, the Brugh collection, cemetery records, funeral home records, many editions of The Fincastle Herald that are on CD-ROM, The Buchanan News and The Fincastle Herald on microfilm and other genealogy and historic learning tools.

The fair is being sponsored by the Botetourt Genealogy Club, Botetourt County Historical Society, the Virginia Room at Roanoke City Library, Homespun Legacy, Bedford Historical Society and the Fincastle Library. For more information, Worthen can be contacted at the Fincastle Library at 473-8339.

Posted by river queen at 12:24 AM PST

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Many times you can find accounts of holiday antics or traditions in regional newspapers, and these stories add color to local history and genealogy. Cathy Benson relates one such story in an article entitled, “An old-fashioned Christmas tale,” published this year by Main Street Newspapers. Sometimes newspapers delete pages after a certain timeframe, so I’ll include the anecdotal portion of the story here for safekeeping. Note that Benson includes information about historic prices, attitudes, information about Indian Rock, clothing, and the traditional Virginia oyster meal Christmas in her tale:

Our story surrounds a robbery down at the little community called Indian Rock near Buchanan along the shores of the mighty James River. My grandfather was called very early on Christmas Eve morning to come to Buchanan with his three bloodhounds to capture a fellow who had robbed the Indian Rock store. The owner offered a $50 cash reward (a huge sum back then) for the capture of the criminal. My daddy and Uncle Bill, who were 10 and 11, went with him and the hounds, all of whom were in the back seat except Pa Pa’s favorite hound, Belle, who rode shotgun in the front seat. She was the family favorite bloodhound and the other two were her progeny. Pa Pa had a great big old touring car, gangster looking - think of Bugsy Segal or one of those guys who liked to give the “Coppers” a hard time. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by river queen at 1:09 PM PST

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