George Washington Turbyfill was born March 30, 1897 on Buck Mountain Road, Cranberry Township, Elk Park, North Carolina and he lived there until he enlisted in the war. When he came home, he had weak lungs from mustard gas. George went back to his home with his parents after the war and appeared on the 1920 census with his parents.
In 1923, I find him in West Virginia getting married to Mary Magdalena Bare on July 29th. George was working for the Pocahontas Coal Company. The coal company transferred him to Amonate, Virginia. George couldn’t tolerate the work with his weakened lungs from the war, they moved back to Elk Park and bought land on Elk River Road. There, they had more children.
Georgia Turbyfill, September 4, 1923 in Clifftop,West Virginia, died before 1929.
Georgia is not found on any cemetery records in North Carolina. Based on that, I assume she is buried in Virginia somewhere. In the 1920s, Virginia did not maintain meticulous records of infant burials.
Frankie Carrie Turbyfill, December 1, 1924 in Amonate, Tazewell, Virginia
Married Junior Hicks April 18, 1942
Juanita Turbyfill, December 26, 1927 in Cranberry, Avery, North Carolina
Married John Trivette
Lloyd Turbyfill, January 31, 1930 Cranberry, Avery, North Carolina
Married Ramona Wilhelm
Ruth, May 16, 1932 Cranberry, Avery, North Carolina
Married Ralph Winters
Nicola, 1934 (living, not publishing her full birthdate) Married Harold Pritchard
Elmer Curtis, February 21, 1937 married Shirley Brown
Maynard, 1940 (living)
Roma, 1944 Mary, 1944 I believe these are the same person, a baby that died.
George farmed on Elk River Road from 1926 to 1979 and he sold his farm to Lloyd Meredith. I believe this is when he moved in with his daughter Nicki across the road from the home he raised his children in. His wife Lena divorced him between 1944 and 1946. As far as I know, he never re-married.
I remember my Papaw George. He had this chihuahua that was very protective of his lap and we grandkids had to compete for his lap with this scary tiny snarly dog named “Tiny”. There was also Cricket and Popeye, but they were friendly and would get down off his lap if I ran up to him, but that one dog, Tiny… watch out, she’ll bite you if you dare even look at Papaw George. When I was very small, he would come outside and sit and watch us play in the creek along the front yard, but as the years went by, he stayed inside the house more and more. When I was a preteenager, he stayed in the living room the whole time I visited and then when I was about 12, he would be in his bed all day and I remember helping Nicki get him Ensure to drink. He loved having his back scratched and rubbed and I would trace words on his back as he nodded off.
He passed away at 95 years old.
Mary Magdalena Bare was born January 13, 1905 to Frank Bare and Molly Presnell in Elk Park, North Carolina. Her mother taught her all kinds of folk songs and she kept the tradition going to keep the memory of her mother alive for her siblings. Her mother passed away when she was 7. She especially sang with her sister Loyd.
When she was 14, she went to work for a family in Washington State and she came back when she was 16 or 17. She then marries George and has the children listed above.
She was a folk singer and you can listen to her voice at the following link.
https://youtu.be/5ax1n2ad5lk and there’s more information about Lena at this link
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2020/09/songcatching-bolakins.html
She then divorces George between 1944 and 1946, then Lena marries Robert Edward Brockwell/Branchwell July 9, 1949. They moved to Detroit in 1951 and then Lena returned to Johnson City, Tennessee in 1957. It is unclear if she is divorced. Lena is in the hospital for injuries from a fall in 1966 and is discharged. In 1967, her husband (or exhusband) Robert passed away and she moved to Indiana. It’s unclear why. Maybe to live with one of her children.
Lena died May 9, 1968.
George
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