I would like to dedicate this article in memory of my mother Vesta (Robey) Koon who passed away in 1998. She was not only the greatest mother in the world . she was my best friend . and there's not a day that goes by I dont think of her,
I remember many times down through the years sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and my mother telling me all about a place called "Ole Dan Holler"
It was a hollow, no one ever dared to go down into, especially after dark , that sat adjacent to my grandma and grandpa's Robey's farm on the outskirt's of Ripley. Wva my hometown .
There was a footbridge that once crossed "Ole Dan Holler" but weeds had covered it over down through the years.
My mother told me that she walked across the footbridge many late evenings in the 1930s from teaching at Coast Supply School in Ripley .
She told me about my great-grandfather Dan Robey for whom the hollow was orginally named . who was crossing the foot bridge late one evening around dark .
As he stepped upon one end of the the bridge , a man dressed in a Civil War uniform stepped upon the other end of the bridge. just as my great-grandfather was about to greet the soldier, the soldier disappeared into thin air, thats when my great grandfather Dan Robey hollered out to my great grandmother to meet him half away back home,
After that no one was ever brave enought to cross "Ole Dan Holler" after dark for any amount of money. not even old nigger george they called him , who lived on the hill and wasn"t supposed to be afraid of anything ,
My mother told me of many nights lying in bed at night and seeing a bright light come across the sky and shine down into a certain spot in the hollow. where it was rumored money had been hidden there by Civil War troops who had camped out there long before 1863 when West Virginia was still part of Virginia,
In 1997, a year before my mother passed away . I finally after all those years- got to see the place I had heard so much about at the kitchen table and had in later years read about in old West Virginia mountain folklore.
I would like to go back there again someday long before dark. and perhaps search for the treasure that is supposedly hidden there,
According to an old map my mother once layed out , the spot where the treasure is supposedly hidden today is only a few centimeters away from a Columbia Gas Pipeline that sits Southwest of a Quaker State oil tank that I and one sister and other relatives today share a royalty on ,
Readers: In 1997,A year before my mother passed away, she wanted to go back one more time to the farm she grew upon , known today as the Old Robey farm.. located just outside Ripley near Sandyville, situated on a hill that was once known as :Nigger Hill" , the farm house my mother lived in had been torn down years ago, , and the entrance to the farm today is now gated and padlocked with a sign to keep out. posted by the Gas & Oil Company who today lease the property, But we were able to lift my mom over the gates . she took her shoes off and walked bare-foot that day , She was so happy to be back home ,
I remember many times down through the years sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and my mother telling me all about a place called "Ole Dan Holler"
It was a hollow, no one ever dared to go down into, especially after dark , that sat adjacent to my grandma and grandpa's Robey's farm on the outskirt's of Ripley. Wva my hometown .
There was a footbridge that once crossed "Ole Dan Holler" but weeds had covered it over down through the years.
My mother told me that she walked across the footbridge many late evenings in the 1930s from teaching at Coast Supply School in Ripley .
She told me about my great-grandfather Dan Robey for whom the hollow was orginally named . who was crossing the foot bridge late one evening around dark .
As he stepped upon one end of the the bridge , a man dressed in a Civil War uniform stepped upon the other end of the bridge. just as my great-grandfather was about to greet the soldier, the soldier disappeared into thin air, thats when my great grandfather Dan Robey hollered out to my great grandmother to meet him half away back home,
After that no one was ever brave enought to cross "Ole Dan Holler" after dark for any amount of money. not even old nigger george they called him , who lived on the hill and wasn"t supposed to be afraid of anything ,
My mother told me of many nights lying in bed at night and seeing a bright light come across the sky and shine down into a certain spot in the hollow. where it was rumored money had been hidden there by Civil War troops who had camped out there long before 1863 when West Virginia was still part of Virginia,
In 1997, a year before my mother passed away . I finally after all those years- got to see the place I had heard so much about at the kitchen table and had in later years read about in old West Virginia mountain folklore.
I would like to go back there again someday long before dark. and perhaps search for the treasure that is supposedly hidden there,
According to an old map my mother once layed out , the spot where the treasure is supposedly hidden today is only a few centimeters away from a Columbia Gas Pipeline that sits Southwest of a Quaker State oil tank that I and one sister and other relatives today share a royalty on ,
Readers: In 1997,A year before my mother passed away, she wanted to go back one more time to the farm she grew upon , known today as the Old Robey farm.. located just outside Ripley near Sandyville, situated on a hill that was once known as :Nigger Hill" , the farm house my mother lived in had been torn down years ago, , and the entrance to the farm today is now gated and padlocked with a sign to keep out. posted by the Gas & Oil Company who today lease the property, But we were able to lift my mom over the gates . she took her shoes off and walked bare-foot that day , She was so happy to be back home ,
Larry I knew your mother I worked with her at the M&M resturant in Parkersburg in the late 60s , She was a really nice lady,love your columns, N. R. Lubeck. wva
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