Tom Perry's Website Of Patrick County Virginia History
REGIONAL HISTORY
Regional is defined as any county bordering Patrick County Virginia
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"History is like going down a river, but you never get to the end of it, because you are up in all the tributaries checking out all the coves." -- Ruth Minick
Graves of Ruth Minick and Icy Bowman Brown in Mount Airy’s Oakdale Cemetery
Lessons In The Shade Of A Holly Tree
In Mount Airy’s Oakdale Cemetery stands a lone holly tree giving shade to the graves of two great ladies who shared a love of our region’s history. Many know Miss Ruth Minick for her columns in the Mount Airy newspapers. Ruth worked with me on many projects over the years such as placing the marker for Stoneman’s Raid at the Mount Airy Library. She shared her accumulated knowledge of regional history. She never let the boundary line between North Carolina and Virginia stand between her and writing of history often writing on Stuart’s Birthplace.
In an adjoining plot, Icy Bowman Brown, her husband G. E. "Shug" Brown and their two children rest. To say Icy loved history would be an understatement. Her enthusiasm for Stuart’s Birthplace and preserving the site and the history surrounding it is legendary to those of us who knew her. As a boy, she stimulated my interest in Laurel Hill through her scrapbooks and her willingness to tell me all she knew.
I hope these two great ladies are together now and that heaven gets a big dose of our history every day. Some warm summer day when the wind blows through that holly tree, we might hope to hear them or at least in our memories learn from their example that history is on both sides of the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia.
From The Free State Of Patrick
Regional Native-American History
The Dinky Railroad A River Called Ararat
Henry County Virginia History Bassett Historical Center My Henry County
Copyright 2007 Tom Perry. No material to be used without permission.
Contact Information: Tom Perry P. O. Box 50 Ararat VA 24053 freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com
