Right now, I can close my eyes and see that boat and hear the noises that it made.  When it came in the creek, it would blow the whistle and black smoke would come from it.  It was just great watching that steamboat come in.

Hank Thompson Flood Story 1-28-1986 

On January 29, 1986, Michael Kline interviewed Hank Thompson, Jim Blosser, Bryan King, and Michael Parsons for the Tucker County, West Virginia Flood Audio Recordings project. The interview focuses on their experiences during the devastating flood in November 1985. Hank Thompson recounts the night of the flood, when he and others were trapped in a house by rapidly rising waters. He reflects on the fear they felt as the water levels increased and parts of the house were destroyed. The group prayed together, finding comfort in their faith despite the danger.

Harold Trivett was born on May 13, 1924, in Dickenson County, Flatwood. He was raised on a large farm of 1,560 acres, where he learned farming from a young age. By the time he was five, he was already milking cows, and by six, he was milking two cows, walking two miles to school, and then returning to milk them again. Harold completed his education at Virginia Tech (VPI). After finishing school, he worked in a store in Haysi for three years before moving to Grundy, where he built a building and started a business named Arington Trivett, also known as the Family Shop, in 1950.

Harvey Morgan interview; Luncheon talk following interview with mother.

Helen Combs Johnson was born on February 7, 1912, in Grundy, Virginia, where she was also raised. She was delivered by her uncle, who was a doctor, in her family home located downtown, where the Combs Building currently stands. Her early childhood was marked by a significant event when the town burned down on Christmas Eve in 1915. Johnson, along with her brother, was rolled up in a blanket and taken to safety by her parents, who managed to save most of their wedding presents before their home was consumed by the fire.

On February 14, 1986, Michael Kline interviewed Helen Sites in Tucker County, West Virginia, for the Tucker County Flood Audio Recordings project. Sites recounts her upbringing in a large family of fourteen children on a farm in Brushy Run, Wingo, where her father, Guy Auville, also ran a store and post office. She describes her experiences during the November 4, 1985, flood, detailing the days of continuous rain leading up to the disaster and the harrowing moments when rising water forced her and her friend Helen Wooddale to seek shelter in a nearby barn.

Michael Kline interviewed Henry Gwyn Edwards for the Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project. Henry Gwyn Edwards, born on December 18, 1904, in Mill Point, grew up in the area and still resides near his childhood home.  Edwards provides background about his early life, education, and career. He recounts his reluctance to attend school as a child and how his father took him on horseback to his first day of school. He completed his education at Cubs Creek High School, the only high school in the county at that time.

On March 7, 1986, Michael Kline interviewed Icy Victoria Shahan Sampson in Tucker County, West Virginia, as part of the Tucker County Flood Audio Recordings project. Sampson recounts her life growing up in Saint George after being born on Pifer Mountain in 1915. She describes her family’s relocation to Saint George when she was six weeks old, her father’s career as a rural mail carrier and former schoolteacher, and her experiences attending the local two-room schoolhouse.

At that time, you didn’t buy the oysters.  You bought the man and the boat.  Now, the white man got from five to ten cents more on a bushel than the colored person got.  Same oysters, but that’s the way they worked the system.