IN HONOR OF GRANDPARENT'S DAY: My maternal grandparents were Charles Ambrose Haydon and Minnie Lester Shomo. My grandfather died before I was born so I never knew him personally. My grandmother died when I was very young and I don't remember much about her. I enjoy learning more about them through research. Charles Ambrose Haydon was born on April 11, 1879 in Wolf Creek, West Virginia to Alexander Wurts Haydon and Margret "Maggie" Eudora (Bowling) Haydon. He had 3 brothers: John William, William "Will" Jackson, and Thomas Agee and 3 sisters: Ada Lucy, Laura Ellen, and Mary Elizabeth. Charles' father died just before his 6th birthday and he was forced to go to work to help support the family. He drove mules in the iron mines in the Iron Gate/Clifton Forge area of Alleghany county, Virginia. At the age of 21 he was working to support his mother, 2 of his younger brothers, his older sister (who was widowed) and her 3 children, and his mother's unmarried sister. He learned to shoulder a lot of responsibility at a very early age. Minnie Lester Shomo was born April 22, 1888 in Yancey, Rockingham County, Virginia to John William Shomo and Lucy Mildred (Sellers) Shomo. She had 2 brothers: John Harry and William Luther and 2 sisters: Bessie Frances and Maude Ruth. I do not know if she had any other siblings who died when young. When Minnie was about 5 years old, her father moved the family from the Shenandoah Valley to Clifton Forge, Alleghany County, Virginia. They lived near Charles Haydon and family - that is how Minnie met Charles. Charles and Minnie were married on July 4, 1913 in Madison Heights, Amherst county, Virginia. They had 6 girls: Ruth, Maude Elizabeth, Lelia (twin), Lillian (twin), Mary, and Beulah and 5 boys: Charles Ambrose, John, Luther Thomas, Robert, and Osborne Kenneth. Maude Elizabeth, Lelia, Mary, Beulah, and Luther Thomas are still living. Charles and Minnie moved to Sprague in Raleigh county, West Virginia shortly after their marriage. His mother and aunt Ida Bowling (sister of his mother) lived with them. Charles was a coal miner. He died on September 7, 1932 of "miner's asthma" (black lung). Lelia (my mother) recalls her father going out on the back porch to sit and "catch his breath" while her mother cleaned up the supper mess. When her mother finished and went out to join him she found him sitting in his chair - dead. Charles was buried in Sunset Memorial Gardens in Beckley, Raleigh county, West Virginia next to his mother (who had been buried in Minnie's plot in 1925). After the death of her husband, Minnie's brother, William Luther Shomo (a young widower with no children of his own) moved in to help her out. He was dearly loved by her children and considered to be a "second father". He died on March 10, 1969 and was buried in Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens in Beckley, Raleigh county, West Virginia. Minnie was a diabetic and took insulin shots. Her sugar got out of control and she was sent to the hospital. Her regular doctor was out of town and the doctor filling in for him gave her some pills instead of her shot. She went into diabetic shock and died in the hospital on August 27, 1970. She was buried in Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens in Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virginia near her brother. Minnie like to embroidery and make quilts. Unfortunately, most of her work is "lost". -- Submitted by Debbie Ullom, granddaughter of Charles and Minnie (Shomo) Haydon on September 11, 2000.