Euell and Oma Craig Handy
By Beverly Belcher Woody
Last week, I had to run an errand in Danville. As I turned onto Piedmont Drive, I crossed the mighty Dan River. Immediately, my thoughts turned to Oma Craig Handy and her husband, Euell. How could this powerful river start from that tiny, little spring on their farm on Belcher Mountain? It certainly does not seem possible, but I know that it is so.
Many folks don’t realize that the Appalachian Trail used to cross the Handy farm on Belcher Mountain too. Earl Schaffer, the first-thru hiker of the Appalachian Trail, wrote about meeting Euell Handy in his book, Walking with Spring. The following is an excerpt from page 58 of the book.
“I noticed a farmer plowing in a field, with a team of mules. He waved, then halted the team in mid furrow and came over to the fence. He said his name was Handy and invited me to stay for supper. Included were fried ham, spoon gravy—made from the fryings—stewed apples, goat’s milk, and real Southern cornbread, the kind that is broken, not sliced. We talked for at least an hour. Mr. Handy said I should stay the night or a week, for that matter, but I told him that the spring weather was moving north, and I was going along.”
Oma was the tenth and last child born to Peter David Craig and Sallie Wood in 1888. She grew up in a hollow at the foot of Lover’s Leap Mountain. Her father, Peter was in the 42nd Virginia Infantry, a part of the famous Jackson Foot Cavalry He and his brothers were in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg where his brother William fell, mortally wounded. After Peter and his brother, Thomas were captured at Spotsylvania Courthouse, they were sent to Point Lookout, Maryland. When that camp became severely overcrowded, the Craig brothers were sent to the POW camp with the highest death rate of all, Elmira in New York. By God’s Providence, they both survived, and came home to raise large families.
All the children of Peter and Sallie Craig had moved away from home by 1910, except for Oma and her older sister, Lula. The family moved to Bassett and the sisters built a boarding house for the furniture factory workers. (This home is still in good condition and is located across from Carter Bank in Bassett). It was at this home, that in addition to cooking for their boarders, the two sisters cared for their parents until their deaths.
In 1911, Oma and Lula’s brother Thomas was killed in the coal mines of West Virginia. Oma and her father, Peter retrieved Thomas’ six-year-old son and brought him to Bassett to raise him to adulthood. In 1926, Sallie Wood Craig, the mother of Oma and Lula died, and in 1929, their father Peter followed his wife to the grave.
Euell was no stranger to sadness either. He buried his young wife, Nancy Louanna Howell in 1929 and was left to raise his fourteen-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son all alone. Euell was born in 1889 to John William “Will” Handy and Nancy Annah Belcher. His mother had been bedridden most of her adult life and died of rheumatoid arthritis at a young age. His sister, Ollie, was bitten by a snake in the yard and died when she was only three years old. Homer, his younger brother, was killed in the coal mines in Russell County, Virginia when he was only seventeen.
Two years after the death of Euell’s wife and Oma’s father, the couple was married on October 4, 1931 in Bassett. Euell took his forty-three-year-old bride to his home on Belcher Mountain. Oma did not give up the boarding house though; she kept it as a source of income until shortly before her death. The Handys remained active well into their ninth decade, raising sheep with the help of their Shelties and Border Collies. Oma was still milking cows, churning butter, growing a garden, canning her harvest, and piecing quilts!
Euell and Oma were both known for their feisty attitudes; in fact, that is probably why they lived so long. One story that I recall was when someone bought them an electric blanket. Euell was afraid that he would be electrocuted, so he let Oma be the test pilot. When he heard her snoring, he decided that it must be okay and climbed under the covers with her.
In 1975, when I was ten years old, my parents took me to visit Euell and Oma. I still have the notebook where I “interviewed” them for a school project. I remember asking them some well-rehearsed questions, but the high point of my visit that day was the fact they had a Sheltie puppy!
Euell and Oma celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1981, at the ages of ninety-one and ninety-three. Several years after their anniversary, they did start to slow down physically, but their minds remained as sharp as a thirty-year old’s. When Oma was 98, she had a very bad fall. The doctor said that she only had two weeks to live. She did not want to die in the hospital. Her great niece, Evona Belcher Helms offered to take her in and care for her until the sad time came. Evona took such good care of Oma, she began to walk again and lived with Evona for four more years!
Euell’s daughter from his first marriage moved into the Handy home to care for her Dad. Euell was forbidden from driving, but he would slip out of the house and drive the short distance to Evona’s house to visit his bride. One week after Oma’s 100th birthday party, Euell passed away at the age of ninety-eight. He was laid to rest beside his first wife who had passed away fifty-nine years before. An interesting sidenote is that Euell’s sister, Callie Handy, lived until the age of 107. Two weeks shy of her 102nd birthday, Oma Craig Handy went to Glory too. She was laid to rest beside her sister Lula at the Woolwine United Methodist Church.
(Thank you to Evona Helms for contributions to this article. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com.)
