From One Mountain Home to Another: Trading West Virginia Roots for a Georgia Ridge

There’s a place in West Virginia that will always live in my heart, even if it no longer belongs to my family. My grandparents’ farmhouse stood sturdy against the wind for decades, its white paint peeling in places, its porch swing creaking like it was whispering old stories. The land around it rolled gently into the hills, with fields that blushed green in spring and burned gold in autumn. It wasn’t just property, it was memory, heritage, and the heartbeat of our family.

I discussed this farmhouse in my genealogical based presentation, Hillbilly Highway.  My mother, aunts, and uncles discussed the farm and how it was my grandfather's dream... And they lost it to foreclosure. An extremely low monthly payment, then, that now, the land gets over $250k in natural gas underground. They would have been "money rich"  if they could have kept the farm.  And, they probably would not have divorced. 

Wassaic State School, Amenia, New York

 

Not quite in Appalachia but important to my family research: Wassaic State School

Sometimes the Ancestry Road of our past includes dark and unexpected locations. When starting a brand new quest that feels full of possibilities, many are not prepared for a turn down a dark side road. Even today, as a Professional Genealogist for over 20 years, a client’s dark side road can trouble me to my core. There are places that I never expected to find and conditions of locations so troubling that it troubles your soul. But, it is also a great privilege to find those forgotten places and people to finally bring light to an Ancestor’s dark life.

This brings me to Wassaic State School. What started in 1931, was an idea to help those that could not help themselves in society. To house and work with individuals who were “mentally challenged” and “developmentally disabled” find a way to become productive in society. This was one of five facilities in the State of New York. Sadly, most of the individuals were what, today, we would consider warehoused.

Personally, I had never heard of Wassaic State School or had reason to. One day, my Sister-in-Law mentioned that she would love to have a photo of her Grandmother, Lillian, since she had never met her. Instantly, I replied that I could help her! After all, I am a Professional Genealogist and researching and finding data and photos for others is my job. It didn’t take long for me to discover that not only would this task be challenging but it also introduced me to the Wassaic State School.