TALCOTT, (Hinton News) – Talcott is known as a small, quiet little town in Summers County. Because of this, it may be hard to imagine the area as a bustling hub of activity, but that is what it once was. In this week’s A Peek into Summers County’s Past, William Jones has provided information and a piece of memorabilia from the Talcott Hardware and Feed Store.
The store was owned and operated by Jim Nelson, who opened it in the early 1900s. The piece relating to the store from Jones’ collection is a clock used as an advertisement piece.
Describing the history of Talcott Hardware and Feed Store Jones said, “James Nelson opened the Talcott Hardware and Feed Store in 1903. From the look and style of the clock, I suspect it is from around the year the business opened. He operated it until he passed away on July 6, 1938. The store continued operation until April 6, 1945. In its day, Talcott was quite a thriving little community with several restaurants, several general stores, a train depot, 2 hardware stores, a hotel, a toll bridge, Talcott School, and several churches, and there was for a brief time, the bank shown in the first column of this series.”
“This is a truly rare and unique advertisement piece from ‘Talcott Hardware & Feed Co. Talcott, W. Va.’ I inherited this piece from my Grandfather Bernard Thompson, who was a Talcott native that passed away in 2018,” Jones said. “Granddad entrusted it to me to keep it in the area since I have such a large collection of local memorabilia.”
Before Jones’ grandfather came into possession of the clock, it belonged to Thompson’s uncle, Dolin Kirby, from Alderson. According to Jones, it is somewhat of a mystery how Kirby came into possession of the item.
“No one knows quite how Uncle Dolin ended up with the clock. There are several ideas; one is that Uncle Dolins father had bought it at a local auction because he went to them quite often,” Jones reminisced. “The other one, which I am more inclined to believe because Uncle Dolin’s grandmother was my Great Great Grandmother’s sister, Roxie Meadows Canterbury. She was a sister to my Great Great Grandfather L.W. Thompson’s wife Delia, who was a very successful contractor throughout Summers County. In addition he lived in Talcott; owned a hardware store and Kurfees Paint shop there, also. We like to think that L.W.’s wife got the clock in some fashion and gave it to her sister Roxie.”
Jones also spoke about seeing the clock as a young child. He said, “I remember always admiring this clock that sat on Uncle Dolin’s mantel in his kitchen. And when I would go with granddad to visit him, they would always get it down and sit it on the table in front of them as they talked about its history.”
There are many pieces of local history in Jones’ collection to share. Be sure to check back next week to see what part of Summers County’s history we will discuss.
If you have a story from Summers County’s history that you would like to share, send us an email at news@hintonnews.com.
