Ah, yes, my Kanawha surnames. Since it is a new year (Happy New Year, all!!), I will try again in hopes of a connection. My great-grandmother was Myrtle Lee Hodge, born ca1886-1888 and died after 1915 (the last record I have located of her is a listing in the Charleston directory for that year). Hodge is the maiden name given on the Kanawha Co. marriage record; please note, however, her daughter--my grandmother--always swore her mother's maiden name was Dangerfield. As for me, I can find no record of her under either surname prior to her marriage to my great-grandfather. On November 22, 1902 Myrtle married Oscar Frank Pennington (December 10 1885 - April 15 1942), the son of William M. Pennington and Almeda Farley of Pennington Mountain in the Loudendale area. Myrtle and Oscar had two children: James Sanford Pennington (Sep 5 1903 - Aug 6 1960) and Ella Merle Pennington (Mar 8 1906 - Oct 1 1995). Alas, Myrtle was not a faithful wife, and Oscar caught her in the arms of another man. Family history is a bit fuzzy as to whether the other man died, but all agree Oscar shot him and stood trial in either Fayette or Kanawha County (I'm still looking for the criminal case records.) By 1910, Oscar and Myrtle had gone their separate ways. Oscar was living in Fayette County with his new wife, Sally Randall. Myrtle was a live-in servant in a downtown Charleston hotel. Their children had been placed in an orphanage, but were quickly taken in by Oscar's first cousin, William Henry Pennington and his wife, Martha Verner James, who resided in Beards Fork, Fayette County, WV. If anyone has the least clue as to the ancestry of my great-grandmother Myrtle Lee Hodge (Dangerfield?) Pennington and what ever happened to her, I would certainly appreciate any and all suggestions. I have some wonderful photos of her, but it is like she materialized in Kanawha County to marry my great-grandfather and then just as mysteriously vanished. For all I know she may have been from Mars and went back home <G>. Thanks in advance for any and all assistance. And, of course, I'm always interested in hearing from my Pennington cousins as well. Best wishes, June