The Roane County Historical Society is excited to announce the dedication of the plaque commemorating the Congressional service of Harry Chapman Woodyard. The bronze plaque with Woodyard's likeness now hangs in the Roane County Courthouse.

With pomp and celebration the Woodyard plaque was dedicated on Thursday, October 13th, opening day of the 57th W.Va. Black Walnut Fesitval. The Noon unveiling was attended by festival goers, historical society members and some Woodyard descendants.

The inscription on the plaque reads:
A TRIBUTE TO HARRY CHAPMAN WOODYARD
Roane County's Only Representative in the United States Congress
Born in Spencer, Roane County, WV, the son of William C. Woodyard and Isabelle C. Chapmen, he was elected to a seat in the State Senate in 1898 at age 31. A Republican, he was first elected as the Fourth Congressional District (Roane, Wirt, Wood, Tyler, Putnam, Pleasants, Mason, Jackson and Cabell counties) representative in 1902. He then served four terms prior to 1910, and was returned to office in 1916 for three more terms. He then served one more term in the 69th Congress from March 1925 to march 1927.
Mr. Woodyard united in marriage with Emma J. Douglass, of Harrison County, in 1893, and they had three sons, William Jr., Edward Douglass and Henry Chapman.
In 1919 Mr. Woodyard entered the publishing field through purchase of the Spencer Times-Record, a weekly newspaper. His three sons assisted in the expansion of this business, establishing the first chain of weekly newspapers in West Virginia, known as Woodyard Publications, Inc.
Mr. Woodyard died on June 21, 1929, and is buried in the Spencer Mausoleum at Spencer Memorial Cemetery. Roane County Historical Society - 2011

We are indebted to Mrs. Carol Board-Westfall for spearheading this project and seeing it to its completion. We encourage you to stop by the courthouse in Spencer and see the plaque if you have not already done so.

The Roane County Historical Society, Inc., met Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 7 p.m. at the Roane County library with nineteen members and two guests present. Rick Greathouse, President, called the meeting to order. Anthony Hofstad led an opening prayer and the pledge to the American flag was recited by all.
Susan Tucker, Recording Secretary, read the minutes from the July meeting which were approved as read. Carol Board-Westfall gave the Treasurer’s report which reflected a balance of $19,446.74. Linda Cottrell Liss, Membership & Corresponding Secretary, reported current membership at 202.
Liss reported that the Civil War marker for T.J.Cottrill was retrieved recently from the McKown’s Creek roadside by Frank Liss, Jack Nida, & Jim Perdue and is awaiting pick up by the Harrison County Genealogical Society to get it back to the IOOF Cemetery at Clarksburg where Mr. Cottrill is buried.
Board-Westfall reported that several old books had been donated to RCHS library. She also reported that she and Jack Nida had put up eleven of the church plaques and hopes to get the rest delivered & installed soon as weather permits. In addition she reported that the plaque commemorating the service of county native Harry C. Woodyard, U.S. Congressman, is being designed and hopefully will be ready for unveiling during Walnut Festival activities. It will hang at the Roane County Court House.
Carol Cronin, Newsletter Editor, reported that the Vol 19-Issue 1 newsletter is nearly ready to send to the printer.
Johanna Nutter, Genealogy Fair Chairperson, reported that vendors are signing up for our 17th Annual Genealogy Fair, scheduled for Saturday, September 24th, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Heritage Park Community Center. Drawings for door prizes will be held which include some of the books published by the historical society. Breakfast & luncheon foods will be served by the American Legion Auxiliary. Everyone is welcome to drop by, seek out folk working on same family lines, find new family connections, purchase items offered by vendors and make some new friends.
Paul Hughes, society member, distributed booklets titled: “The Civil War in SPENCER” which he helped compile and produce through the Spencer Rotary Club Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee with funding assistance provided by the WV Dept. of Education and the Arts. The booklet relates the years of conflict 1861-1865 and the part Spencer & its citizen soldiers played in the Civil War.
Greathouse announced that a speaker from Preservation Works is scheduled for our November 16th meeting.
The meeting adjourned with refreshments being served to: Tucker, Board-Westfall, Greathouse, Brenda Whited, Nutter, Okey and Mary Young, Carl Paxton, Reva Paxton, Hazel Gandee, Patty and Bernard Wyatt, Hughes, Betty Moore, Cronin, Liss, Melissa Swisher, Peggy Starcher, Bobby Skinner, Hofstad and Philip J. Miller.
The next meeting of the R.C.H.S. is scheduled for Thursday, September 22nd, at 7 p.m. downstairs at the Roane County Library. All members are urged to attend and guests are always welcome. For further information about society activities you may contact Linda Liss at WVRoots@aol.com

The Roane County Historical Society, Inc. met on Thursday, March 24, 2011, 7:00 p.m. at the Roane County Library for its regular monthly meeting. Ten members and three guests were present. The R.C.H.S. did not meet in December 2010 due bad weather and the society does not regularly meet in January-February.

The meeting was called to order by Rick Greathouse, President. Linda Liss led the opening prayer and the pledge to the American flag was recited. The November 2010 meeting notes, as posted on this website, were read by, Susan Tucker, Recording Secretary.

Carol Board-Westfall, Treasurer, gave the treasurer's report which reflected a $5,000 anonymous donation to the society.

Linda Liss, Membership & Corresponding Secretary reported current membership at 195. She has sent greeting cards were needed and responded to various other inquiries.

Susan Tucker reported that she has done an inventory of publications available through the R.C.H.S. The publications list is available on this website.

The 17th Annual Genealogical Fair sponsored by the R.C.H.S. will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Heritage Park Community Building, Spencer, WV.

As an informative introduction of the guests, each person present reported on the family lines they are researching, told a bit about themselves and/or told how they got started with family genealogy.

Old Business: Carol Board-Westfall reported on the 2010-11 plaque project. Plaques for fifteen historic churches and one house were ordered and have been received. She also reported that she has been collecting information needed to proceed with the proposed plaque to honor the former WV Congressman Harry Chapman Woodyard who was from Roane County.

Linda Liss reported on the 1st Annual Essay Scholarship. The guidelines and applications were distributed to interested Roane County High School seniors on January 18th. The $500 scholarship winner will be announced at the school's annual award ceremony in May.

New Business: Susan Tucker, Carol Board-Westfall and Susie Wyatt worked during the Winter break to clean-up and rearrange the society's library located on the lower level of the Roane County Public Library. Additional shelving, a new file cabinet, storage containers and other items were purchased to make that rearrangement possible.
While rearranging the library several folders of obituaries were found. Patty Wyatt is sorting and putting the obituaries into a usable format. They will remain a part of the library's extensive obituary collection. Additional work days in the library will be scheduled as needed.

The next scheduled meeting of the R.C.H.S. will be held on Thursday, April 28th at 7:00 p.m. at the Roane County Public Library. Members are urged to attend and guests are always welcomed.

The Roane County Historical Society, Inc. held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, October 28th at the Roane County Library in Spencer. Rick Greathouse, President, opened the meeting with prayer and the pledge to the flag was recited. Members present were: Carol Board-Westfall, Linda Liss, Hazel Gandee, Susan Tucker, Rick Greathouse, Patty Wyatt and Marvin Stemple.

Carol Board Westfall gave the treasurer?s report and Susan Tucker read the minutes from the September meeting.

Carol reported that several new books have been added to the society?s library.
New books include:
Clay County Marriages & Index (1991) by the WV Genealogical Society,
Curry Funeral Home Death Notices (1949-2008),
Jackson County Deaths (1950-2000),
Obituaries from Times Record, Vol.4, A-Z (2007-2010), and
Sinnett Family Tree by John P. Sagert

Linda Liss, Membership & Corresponding Secretary, reported current membership at 200. She has been sending greeting card to members for illnesses and/or deaths. Also, she has greeted new members with emails or letters and has contacted the different genealogy societies with whom we exchange or provide newsletters to bring all those files up-to-date.

Linda is working on a book about the buildings/homes which the society commemorated with plaques in the year 2009. She will make copies of the book available to the RCHS Library.

Linda reported that she has met with the guidance counselor at Roane County High School to continue making plans for the $500. R.C.H.S. Essay Scholarship. The scholarship committee will meet on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. immediately before the society?s meeting to look at guidelines and the essay application.

Sue Tucker reported that two digital photo frames are now on display in Spencer, one at the Antique Mall and one at the Roane County Library. The frames hold images from Jack Nida?s book ?Images of America.?

Mark your 2011 calendars: 17th Annual Genealogy Fair, is scheduled for Saturday, September 24, 2011 at the Heritage Park Community Building in Spencer.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next meeting of the R.C.H.S. is scheduled a week earlier, on Thursday, November 18th, 2010, 7:00 p.m. at the Roane County Library, downstairs. Members are urged to attend and guests are always welcome. You may contact Linda Liss, WVRoots@aol.com if you have questions or comments about Society activities.

The Roane County Historical Society, Inc., sponsored the 16th Annual Roane County Genealogy Fair on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at the Heritage Center Community Building in Spencer, 9 am. ? 3 p.m.

The fair was deemed a success with registrars receiving over 150 guests. Everything went well and the weather cooperated with a beautiful sunny day. The vendors and others having display tables reported a good day with a steady flow of genealogists searching for clues to their family history.

As always, the American Legion Auxiliary delighted taste-buds with their baked goods, hotdogs, coffee and cold beverages. Yum, yum!

Rick Greathouse, RCHS President, introduced Mr. Joe Gieger, Jr., Director of WV Division of Culture & History Archives in Charleston, as the 10 a.m. guest speaker. He brought those present up-to-date on resources available to budding or long-time family genealogists. He related that the State Archives & History department was instrumental in replacing & refurbishing state highway historical markers; that the department had first-hand input in researching the 11,427 names for the Veteran?s Memorial at the State Capitol Complex; that the Archives has a good Civil War Soldiers & Sailors database available; that the department offers grants for historical preservation projects and that genealogical in nature workshops are being held on Tuesdays at the Archives Library. He shared many other ideas and food for thought not covered in this article. We thank him for sharing his Saturday morning with us.

Johanna Nutter, Fair Chairperson, drew numbers for the hourly door prizes. Richard Griffith of near Las Vegas, NV traveled the farthest to attend. He received the quilted wall-hanging. Tom E. Cottrell, of Xenia, OH won the genealogy bag and Patty Wyatt of Spencer won the raffle for the 5-volume set of books: Cemeteries of Roane County, WV.

Linda Liss, Membership Secretary, reports that two renewals and six new society memberships were received during the fair.

Carol Board-Westfall, treasurer, thanks the Hur Herald, Spencer Newspapers and the WVRC radio station for advertising the fair free-of-charge. We extend our thanks to Jim Cooper of the Times Record newspaper for the follow-up article in the Sept. 30, 2010 paper. Also, special thanks to Richard Griffith, society member and webmaster, for the collection of fair photos posted to this site.

We extend our special thanks to all those who helped in any way to make this year?s fair a success.

The 17th Annual Roane County Genealogy Fair is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 24, 2011, - exact time and site to be announced.