The Mail Box - February, 1989

Issue: February, 1989

To the Editor:
My ancestors came from Patrick County [Virginia]. Family legend has it that one of them, a Stanley, discovered a silver mine in the Pinnacles of Dan. He used the silver to decorate the stocks of old long rifles which he made, never told where the mine was, and no one else ever discovered it. This ancestor died in 1879. One of my aunts says that every child in school with her claimed an ancestor who was the only person to ever discover the silver mine.

I'm hoping the readers can send me stories about a sliver mine in the Pinnacles of Dan. I am writing a family newsletter, and this information would flesh out a rather scanty story. Please answer the questions who, what, when, where, how and why as far as possible, and tell where you heard the story.

I would also like to know more about the Pinnacles and its dam, since this also figures in our family history.

Sincerely,
Sandra G. Holland
529 Oakhaven
Pleasanton, Texas 78064

P.S. Please send me a copy of your newspaper. I have had two people recommend it thus far - one in Ararat [Virginia] and one in Colorado.

Editor, Susan Thigpen,
We subscribe to The Mountain Laurel and really enjoy it as my husband is from Martinsville.

We are also into square dancing and loved the article you had on square dancing in the 1920's and 30's. We would like to know if you or your readers could get us some more square dancing calls from that time period. We want to see if our caller can call them and we could dance to them.

We think it would be a lot of fun. Thank you for any help you can give us.

Mrs. Edward. N. Turner
2057 Sallas Ln.
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233

Dear Readers,
If anyone has the information these two ladies are asking for, please share it with them. We are happy to be able to provide our family of readers with a means to communicate with us and each other. Many people tell us that the "Letters" page is the first one they turn to when they get their paper. We enjoy hearing from you and are constantly amazed at the wide variety of places the letters come from.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

Dear Mountain Laurel,
I enjoy "The Mountain Laurel" as my ancestors on both sides are from that part of the country...which has a great fascination for me! I read in a Columbus, Ohio, paper years ago the following, "Who has heard of the name, 'Meadows of Dan'. Is not that a romantic sounding name" To me it is all of that!

M. Carrett
Lancaster, Ohio

Dear Ms. Carrett,
The name Meadows of Dan came from actual meadows beside the Dan River which are located behind the mill pond at Cockrams Mill on US Highway 58, south of the Post Office in Meadows of Dan.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

Dear Friends:
Recently I came across a collection of mountain memories No. one and two at a friend's house. If you have both or either of these publications available, I would like copies. I want to use some of these stories and memories in an older folk program.

Will appreciate your response,

V. Murchison
Pleasant Garden, North Carolina

Dear Mountain Laurel Editor:
I have been reading The Mountain Laurel for about 2 years - since picking up a copy when taking my son to Virginia Tech for the first time. I subscribed to it for my mother who is 82 years old and I look forward to her receiving each issue and giving it to me when she finishes reading it. I read the entire paper and I especially enjoy the Backroads section since most of the tours include some report of wildflowers. This past summer my son, my wife and I followed one of the tours and enjoyed it very much, however we were too late to see any Yellow Ladies Slipper Orchids in bloom.

I also enjoy the mountain stories. I grew up in the hills of Mississippi and we had many of the same "hardships" described in many of the stories you print. I still think of those days as the good old days.

I hope to visit my son again early this summer and maybe take another Backroads tour.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
J. L. Cummins
Greenville, Mississippi

Dear Mountain Laurel,
I want to subscribe for your paper. It means so much to me, it takes me back so many, many years. It reminds me of my past so much.

My dear brother and sister-in-law have been sending their paper to me. I enjoy it so much, please rush it to me.

Sincerely,
M. Stevens
Rockingham, North Carolina

Dear Sir or Madame,
I am enclosing a check for a one year subscription to The Mountain Laurel. We are newly-retired Floridians who have purchased a home in a high hollow in the Dobyns valley and feel as though we've "died and gone to heaven."

We've been told many times that your publication embraces the enjoyment of country living.

Very truly yours,
G.S. Clarke
Stuart, Virginia