Ora Riddle

Any journey, along roads less traveled, has to start somewhere, 

and with me, someone.  I have started this backward search looking to find the place where my grandfather, Ora, died.

I know little of his life, the only mention that I have of him is in a letter written to me by his widow, my now deceased grandmother, Isabell Nickells-Riddle.  My father, Roy, never mentioned him, but I knew little of my father. My parents were divorced when I was six and I saw my father perhaps ten times before he died of Alzheimers. But that is another story, for another time.

I had asked my grandmother Isabell to write down some history of the Riddle side of the family, and in the letter she gave a brief pointed description; "Ora Riddle married Isabel Nickell and to this union 3 children, Clifford Thurmond, Lela Ethel, Roy Edward Riddle. Ora Riddle killed mine accident 1936."

That's it, a marriage, three children and the death of a husband in a mining accident condensed to a few scribbled words.

I once had a genealogist tell me that I should write down my life story before I died, otherwise all that anyone will know is a few brief lines about your life. A point worth pondering. A few brief lines is all that I have about Ora, no pictures, just a few written words.

Searching online records, through Ancestory.com,  I have been able to find the death certificate for Ora.  According to it he died of electrocution on a mine tripple at Big Stick mine in West Virginia, July 15, 1936, that would have made him 41 years old.

Big Stick Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, is in the heart of coal country.  Historical references say that "Big Stick" got its name after the famous quote of Theodore Roosevelt to "walk softly and carry a big stick".  Teddy Roosevelt was a rough rider and these miners were rough characters and their families had a tough existence.

Searching on Google maps, I find that the town of Big Stick still exists off Highway 16 about 220 miles, along back roads, from here.  It is located close to Beckley and surrounded by other towns with coal mining names like, "Coal City", "Affinity" and "Slab Fork". The Big Stick mine is closed now but maybe the site is still there. I want to visit that site where Ora died, to let him know that a part of him still exists and maybe place a wreath in his memory.