By Beverly Belcher Woody
This week, I want to share the stories of two very different, but equally special people from Patrick County. One was born and raised here, and one got here as quick as she could. Both of them died in a very tragic way and I hope by sharing their stories, their memory will carry on.
Garland Eugene “Chipper” Gilbert was born in Stuart, VA in 1945 and grew up on Wayside Road. He graduated from Stuart High School and went to work at United Elastic on third shift so he could work on the family farm during the day. Chipper was fascinated by the old-time farming methods and continued the traditions of his ancestors.
The Gilbert family shows up in the Wayside Community as early as the 1820 census and Gilbert’s Mill, located on Russell Creek, can still be remembered by the older generation. Chipper’s 2x great uncle, Samuel Lafayette Gilbert donated the land for the Wayside Church Cemetery and was the first person to be buried there in 1877.
Chipper had a blacksmith shop where he fashioned all kinds of things to assist him in farming the old-timey way; he could make just about anything. Chipper loved working the rocky, hilly land with mules and oxen. He often said that “animals respond where tractors can’t.” Chipper had two Holstein oxen named Mike and Ike, and each of them weighed 1,100 pounds. He had their horns capped with brass knobs to prevent injury when he yoked them together to work.
On the 17th of October 1977, the worst possible thing happened. Chipper was out working with Mike and Ike when the neighbor’s bull jumped the fence and attacked Chipper. The bull, a 1,200-pound Jersey-Guernsey crossbreed, gored Chipper to death. Chipper was only thirty-two years old. He was my grandfather’s best friend and though they were forty years apart in age, they got along wonderfully. I often wonder what Chipper would be like now, if his life had not been taken so young and tragically. I like to think he would still be piddling around in his blacksmith shop, fashioning some new kind tack for one of his mules or oxen.
Now, we will leave Wayside Road and travel up the mountain to what is now known as the Braswell Road. This area is more commonly known as the George Boyd homeplace and cemetery and right next door, Miss Miriam Crenshaw purchased thirty acres of land that she named Danpatch. Every time we would visit the Boyd cemetery, my Mama would say, “There is where poor Miss Crenshaw lived. We came by on the school bus and her home was burning.” I always wanted to know more about Miss Crenshaw and was fascinated at what I learned.
Miss Miriam Crenshaw was born in Pocahontas, Arkansas in 1898 to Patrick Henry Crenshaw, a great grandson of the first governor of Virginia. Miss Crenshaw earned her bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma University in 1919 and taught in Oklahoma for two years before moving to Los Angeles to teach History, Latin, and English. Miss Crenshaw took a couple of years off to earn her master’s at Columbia University in 1927. Can you imagine being a college student in New York during the Roaring 20s?
Miss Crenshaw taught for Los Angeles public schools for thirty years before retiring. She also authored several textbooks that were used for instruction in New York, California, and Texas. Miss Crenshaw was a world traveler and collected many fine items, such as china, artwork, and tapestries in her travels. In the San Pedro News for the 16th of June 1933, it was reported that Miss Crenshaw would be traveling to Central America, Panama Canal Zone, Canary Islands, and Mallorca Island en route to France and Italy.
When Miss Crenshaw retired from teaching in 1949, she moved to Bonham, Texas to be near her sister. She remained there for five years, publishing a book of poems entitled “Senor Paco Does Not Return” and contributing a couple of poems to the book “The Animal World of Ray Schweitzer.”
The Bonham Daily Favorite reported on October 10th, 1954, that Miss Crenshaw was headed to Meadows of Dan to live and continue to write poetry. The article reported that traveling with her in specially made cages were her three cats, Big Foot, Thursie, 13-year-old Tippy, and a puppy named Nosey.
Sadly, five years later, when Miss Crenshaw’s body was found in her badly burned cottage, two of her beloved cats perished with her. Her sister, Edwardine Crenshaw Couch, came from Bonham to retrieve her body and take her back to Texas. She wrote in the March 18th, 1959 edition of The Enterprise, “when we leave for Bonham, we shall have with us the soil from just in front of the doorway of Miriam’s home in Meadows of Dan. To me, it is hallowed soil, because it was so frequently pressed by her feet and those of her little pets. This soil shall be the first layer of the soil above her casket, after which the soil of Texas will gently enfold this gallant little Virginia lady, and a token of the land she loved.”
When Miss Crenshaw was only fifteen years old, she won a poetry contest at Southeastern State Normal College. Here is an excerpt from her winning poem that seems to see into the future… “Never may her glory fade! On her name no stain be laid, Round her no dark shadow cast, May she reach the goal at last, All her high desires attained, Love and fame immortal gained.”
Thank you to Shirlien Belcher for her contributions to this article.
