The exact date and title of the publication in
which this photograph and story appeared are not known to us at
this time. The caption under the photo reads, "J. W.
Hoover." The article reads as follows:
The exact date and title of the publication in
which this photograph and story appeared are not known to us at
this time. The caption under the photo reads, "J. W.
Hoover." The article reads as follows:
"75, He's Ready to Jig to "Turkey In the Straw"
J. W. Hoover is one of the very first of the early settlers of Fayette county. He came with his parents from Logan county, Ohio, to a farm on the Turkey river north of West Union on June 10, 1849, two months before his second birthday. Until a (?) years ago last May Mr. Hoover resided continuously in West Union.
Mr. Hoover was united in marriage in 1871 to Misss Harriet Joslin, who had come to Fayette county eleven years before. To this union five girls and four boys were born; most of the children still reside in and around West Union. A sister of Mr. Hoover, Mrs. Suzanne Tope, who came to the county with the other members of the family in 1849, lives in West Union.
Mr. Hoover says that it is pretty hard to recall all of the more important events of the pioneer days, but he says, "We used to have just as much fun then as we do now. I'll warrant that the old settlers don't enjoy life here now as much as they did when one could go out and bag a dinner of prairie chickens in five minutes' time. The 'Black Warrior' saloon was the community center in those days; a lot of weighty problems were solved there in those days."
Without waiting to consider, Mr. Hoover declares that the coldest winter he remembers was in 1856-57. The snow was so deep and the sleet which followed it made such a crust that deer could be caught with a dog and clubbed to death.
Mr. Hoover is still hale and hearty and can make many of the younger folk step lively to keep up with him when jigging to a lively tune. He has a reputation for his 'Turkey-in-the-straw' jigs, and one doesn't have to tease him to start." -- R. H. McIlree