Marion County Remembers

Remembering Tec5 William Columbus "Singing Willie" Jones, Jr. (Fairmont) December 3, 1913 - May 26, 1945 ---- Tec5 William Columbus Jones (service number 35742122) was born on December 3, 1913 in Tuggles, Virginia, the son of  Willie Columbus Jones and Sadie Everett (Taylor). At the time of William's birth, Willie was a farmer and Sadie, a college graduate, was a teacher. Between William's birth and 1920, their family moved to the coal mining town of Wilcoe, McDowell County (now part of Gary), where Willie worked as a miner (1920 Census). By 1927, they had moved to  Fairmont, WV, where they would spend the rest of their lives. They lived several places in Fairmont- 632 Spring Street (1927- 1939 City Directories), 108 Baltimore Street (1940 Census), and 724 1/2 Walnut Avenue (Draft Card). Willie supported their family by working as a janitor in office buildings and schools, while Sadie worked as a teacher (1930 Census) and later a housekeeper (1940 Census). William gra...

Remembering PVT John Edwin "Buck" West (Fairmont) February 10, 1915 - August 29, 1944 ---- Note from the author: two days ago, we published a story about PVT West's brother-in-law, PVT Charles William Reynolds . Tragedy struck their family three times in two months, as PVT Reynolds was killed August 27, 1944, PVT West was killed August 29, 1944, and the brother of their respective wives, PFC Carl Tatterson , died as a POW on October 20, 1944.  ---- PVT John Edwin "Buck" West was born in Fairmont, WV, on February 10, 1915, the son of Clinton and Edna (Pople) West. Their family lived at 326 Haymond Street in Fairmont at the time of John's birth ( November 1914 West Virginian ), and Clint worked as a laborer at Owens-Illinois (1920 Census). The family moved around a bit, living at 332 Blaine Street for a time (1923, 1929 Fairmont City Directories) while Clint worked as a tinner, before moving to Holidays Cove in Brooke County where Clint worked as a house paint...