Capon Folks

About the Book

Cover information from a Hampshire Review article: James O’Neill, Jr., a reporter from the Washington News, ran a story in a January 1950 issue titled “We Run Down a $30,000 Rumor” concerning a rumor that the reporter chased all over the lower end of this county in a frantic effort to catch it by the tail. It was to the effect that one Mr. Wertz had found $30,000 in old fashioned gold certifi cates in a log cabin on a property he recently bought. Driving from Washington, the reporter first interviewed the proprietress (Editor’s Note: possibly Lelia Nesmith) of a little roadside tavern who had heard the story but knew nothing about its origin or accuracy. Next he stopped at Mr. Long’s store at Yellow Spring, where he found the folks in the cover photograph. Among those pictured were Mr. Long, the merchant at Yellow Spring, James Brill, Ray Anderson, John W. Boone, and Samuel Anderson. Yes, they had heard the rumor, but they didn’t think there was much to it. Determined to get at the bottom of it, O’Neill journeyed on to the home of Henry Wertz, the man who supposedly found the money. Mr. Wertz explained that he had bought the place recently and employed a couple of men to fix up the cabin so he could use it as a hunting lodge and said, “They wanted to play a joke on the fellow I bought it from, and they thought up the story.”

About the Author

Debbie Boyce, editor and compiler of the Capon Notes, is a lifelong resident of Hampshire County, W. Va., and has lived in Yellow Spring since 1970. Her first encounter with Yellow Spring living involved an outhouse, carrying water from the spring and a wood cook stove in the kitchen. More significant than these economic factors, she was impressed with the caring, connected essence of the neighborhood. Long intrigued with Yellow Spring area history, she began researching in earnest when both of her children went off to college. While this is her first professionally published project, she has plans to publish a book on local obituaries, family photos and other local information.