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William
Thomas Farley
This
picture (above) taken in his living room in August, 1952.at Tom's
Mountain (named
after him), near Brown's Creek, Welch West Virginia by Neale
Clifton.
The big, dark colored "box" to his left was a battery powered crystal
radio.
He enjoyed listening to afternoon radio programs such as, Captain
Midnight
& Tom Mix. Later, in the day, he liked Gangbusters, Inner
Sanctum
and
other programs of that time, such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, etc. He had
no electricity. Spring water was approximately a quarter mile away from
the house. Lighting at night was furnished by kerosene lamps. His
refrigerater
was a "cellar," dug into the hillside next to the house; the
tempurature
was maintained much like a small cave, year round. At the age of 75 he
was still farming and mining his own coal for heat. He split wood for
cooking.
In his old age, he had a mule to help him with farming and hauling. In
1954, he lost his spring water due to dynamiting in the Brown's Creek
area
and eventually had to move to Portsmouth, VA.
W.T.
Farley (pictured at right) is at the beloved Royal Model 10
typewriter he recieved from his
son-in-law, owner of Clifton Typewriter Exchange in Crab
Orchard, West
Virginia. Buford Clifton always kept this machine in good repair.
Picture taken by Neale Clifton in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1955. |
My grandfather was extremely proud of years of dedicated
service
in public education. This certificate always was in a prominent place.
He also served as a truant officer.
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