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Bessie Janney, 98, recallsthe early 20th centuryBy Lynne GilhamREGISTER-HERALD REPORTERBessie Barbarie Janney, 98, saw firsthand what day-to-day living was like in the early 20th century. Horse-and-buggy was the most common means of transportation, until Henry Ford made the automobile affordable.Consumer goods were scarce and “everything was rationed.”“Women were not allowed to vote,” she recalls. “When we went to school, we had toin snow up to our knees. There were no roads broke. Most people traveled by horse and buggy.”Growing up, “we had horses to pull the wagon. Father was excellent about treating sick horses.”From an English immigrant family that bought a farm in Princeton, her father, John Barbarie, operated a “hack line,” a horse-drawn wagon that taxied passengers between Princeton and Bluefield.After Fords came on the scene, Barbarie kept up with the times and bought an automobile for his “hack line.“The first autos did not have rubber times, they had wagon wheels,” Janney said.Without roads, the Ford trundled over the countryside, getting stuck in mud holes, she recalls. “Then we’d have to get out so they could pry us out.”Since cars were a novelty, people would gather around to watch Barbarie crank up the Ford to get it started.The Barbaries grew their food in a big garden and raised their own hogs for the table.“You’d have to slop the hogs. We always had one or two hogs feeding then. They killed the hogs in the fall, then hang the hams up in the smokehouse.”Since she was the oldest girl, she had lots of chores to do around the house - cooking, canning and washing clothes on washboards and in a hand-cranked washer.But life wasn’t all drab.One bright afternoon, she went to the train station to meet a girlfriend, but found love instead.She caught a glimpse of Osborne Castle Janney, a conductor and brakeman on the Virginian Railroad who was waiting to go out on a run, and was smitten.“I thought he was handsome when I met him.”The two struck up a conversation, then Janney invited her and her girlfriend to a “picture show” - a silentfilm.“The girl would play the piano down front.” On the screen, the film stars mutely went about their antics.Janney continued taking the two girls to the “picture show.” Then the girlfriend left town. Then the two became friends.“It started out being friends,” but eventually blossomed into romance. Out of Bessie and Osborne’s married bliss came three children - Margaret, Nancy and John - all birthed at home with nothing to ease the pain.“I wasn’t about to go to the hospital to have them. I had them at home.”Did the doctor come to the house? “Yes, indeed.”Then tragedy struck.A head-on train collision left Osborne paralyzed and unable to work.Workers received no compensation for injuries sustained on the job then, so families had to make it the best way they could, their son, Dr. John Janney, pointed out.To support the family, Bessie opened Janney’s Market, first in Mullens, then in Oak Hill where it was in direct competition with the AP across the street.But Bessie knew what the customers wanted - meat and fresh produce - and set about getting the business.Food was rationed, but “we had the meat and they didn’t. It made our store. We delivered groceries then. And we had a time with truck drivers.” One driver took their truck on an unauthorized trip to Richmond,Va.Fresh produce was not available in markets then. But Janney’s Market made a run to Florida and brought back fresh cucumbers, green beans, tomatoesand fresh produce for Christmas. That’s in addition to the freshly butchered turkeys.“It wasn’t easy at all. (The driver) lost his key to the truck in the snow one year. But the stuff was good. We had a big display at Christmas.”Seeking medical help for borne, they traveled to Missouri where doctors considered operating on his back. But a woman physician discouraged it, “pointing out that he’d be in worse shape after surgery.Years later, doctors were able to diagnose Osborne’s injury - his spine was fractured in four places.After raising her children, running the household and store, and caring for her disabled mate, Bessie remains bright, sharp and cheerful at 98 years old.Although she’s retired now, crocheting keeps her fingers as nimble as her mind.
Newspaper Details
Beckley Register Herald
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Sun, May 30, 1999
Page 59
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous A.
WV, USA 11 Mar 2019
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