I enjoy reading old newspaper archives. Reporting of events, especially those of local flavor, was more personal than in today's papers. Deaths, crime, and good news were written more as neighborly visitations than objective facts. Archived newspapers are a great source for those searching for information on ancestors. It was how I found Clarence Shirley Donnelly.
Donnelly was a Baptist preacher and amateur historian in West Virginia. He performed a number of funerals for my mother's kin in Fayette and Raleigh counties. He also wrote a daily column called Yesterday and Today for the Beckley Post-Herald for many years prior to his death in 1982. Several of his columns filled in missing pieces of my mother's family. His life was extraordinary, so much so that I should devote more time to his adventures in later writings. But it is Christmas now, and I want to comment on a couple of his columns appropriate for the season. One column was entitled, The Man Who Never Got a Christmas Card.
Pastor Donnelly was a chaplain at the Veteran's Administration Hospital. It was there in December of 1956 that he met an elderly African-American man. He struck up a conversation and found that he, Cleve Powers, had no family left. His grandfather had been a slave "back there in those cruel days of man's inhumanity to man." Cleve said he had been born on Christmas Day in 1892. He served in World War I. He could have had a home in the army, but the horrors of that conflict had affected him. He did some mining and worked farmers' fields. His education was limited, but he eventually learned to read. All he ever knew to do was to work with his hands. Now, he was too frail.
Donnelly asked Cleve if he ever got any mail. No, it had been years since he had received a letter. Had he had ever received a Christmas Card? No, never in all of his 64 years. Donnelly could not help but feel sorry for the man. He could not imagine someone never receiving a Christmas card. Cleve was a forgotten man! Donnelly asked if he could write about him in his weekly column. Cleve didn't mind.
Donnelly wrote what he knew of Cleve and also arranged for a kind couple to give him a place to stay. He can "share the couple's meager fare and has a bed on which to rest his weary bones." Donnelly then asked his readers to send Cleve a card for Christmas, maybe even with a word of encouragement. He offered to cover the cost of the card and postage. Even better, could some take the time to visit with Cleve?
I then found Shirley Donnelly's column for Jan. 10, 1957. He reported that Cleve received 725 Christmas cards from at least six states and dozens of post offices in West Virginia! Some included cash, candy, a Bible, handkerchiefs, and a pipe. Many of the senders promised continued communication. One man did pay him a visit. Needless to say, Cleve was grateful for those "who so graciously remembered the kind old gentleman in such a wonderful and liberal way." The title of Donnelly's column? The Man Who Got 725 Christmas Cards. Find it if you need something to restore your faith in humanity.
This was in the late 50s in Appalachia, a time not as enlightened as today, supposedly. If such a response can happen back then, can we not also show a little compassion for the disenfranchised, the lonely and physically ill, and those suffering tragic loss? Remember, not everyone has access to social media, so take the time to find a card and mail it to someone who may feel forgotten.
-- Devin Houston is the president/CEO of Houston Enzymes. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 12/18/2019