The Mitchems

Our great-greatgrandfather, Noah G. Mitchem, was born in Giles County, Va, on March 26, 1872 (Hello). Noah was the son of Thomas J. Mitchem and Pricey Belcher, both of Tazewell County, Va. Noah's family moved to McDowell County, WV, when he was two years old. Noah married Pollylou Vicie Mitchem, on March 17, 1896. In their later years, Noah and Pollylou lived up on the hill, above Carswell Elementary.


Noah and Pollylou Vicie Mitchem
Noah
Vicie

Noah and Vicie had seven children--Carl Floyd, Deborah, Johnnie Anderson, Bertha Mae, George Washington, Mollie Evelyn, and Goldie. Below are pictures of five of their children; we don't have pictures for George Washington or Goldie Mitchem.


Our paternal grandfather, son of Noah and Vicie, was Johnnie A. Mitchem. "Papa," as we always knew him, was born in Gary, WV, on July 21, 1902. Our paternal grandmother, Margaret Etta Bennington, "Nona," was born in Speedwell, VA, on Dec. 21, 1904. She was one of 12 children born to Steve Bennington and Elizabeth Cornett, both of Virginia.

We treasure all the pictures of our grandparents, but one picture we have of Papa that we're especially fond of is a picture of Papa when he played on the Gary #10 coal mine baseball team. We would love to hear from anyone who would know the name of the team he played on, as we have very little information on this period of his life.



Papa, Gary #10 Baseball Team
Papa, Carswell Holler
Papa, Mid 60's
Nona, Mid 40's
Nona, Mid 40's
Nona and Papa, Late 60's

Papa and Nona were married Feb. 28, 1922, and they had six children--Hazel Marie, Dewey Anderson, Charles Elwood, Sylvia May, Violet Edna and Shirley Jean. They lived in Carswell, WV, later in Bluewell, and Bramwell, WV.

Our father, Dewey A Mitchem, was born Sept. 15, 1926 in Gary #10, WV, grew up there and worked in the mines until he joined the Army Air Corp in 1942, at the age of 17 1/2 years, a feat he achieved by lying about his age. Before he went overseas, he spent some time in Idaho, where he met and married our mother, Agnes Franklin, in 1943.

Dad served in the 448th Bombardment Squadron, 321st Bombardment Group of the US Army; his service included campaigns in the Air Offensive in Europe ('44), North Apennines ('44), Normandy ('44), Po Valley ('45), and Air Offensive Balkans ('45). He was honorably discharged in 1945 and returned to the United States; he and Mom lived in Kimball initially and later Carswell.
Dad, Carswell Holler
Dad, Dewey & Cherryl
Mom, our grandmother (Nona) and Aunt Sylvia
Mom and Dad



Dad in Italy
Dad and crew
In Italy
Dad, 1944


If you would like to see more photos from McDowell County, WV, we highly recommend this site:

Here's one last photo, sent to us by a cousin, Nita (Hughes) Odem. Nita's grandmother Debbie Mitchem Hughes was the daughter of Noah Mitchem, at the top of this page. If you are a member of our family, Nita would love to hear from you--contact her at Nita . We know this photo includes Link and Debbie Hughes, Johnnie Mitchem, Vicie Mitchem, Carl Mitchem, Nellie Lester, Vivian Fortner and Justine Burchett, among others. We have learned that the man in front (with his arm bent) is Carl Floyd Mitchem. Beyond that--we don't know who is who! If you recognize anyone in the photo, please contact us! But, even without identification, it's a lovely photo of a hayride, from a much simpler time in Gary, WV, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Well, that's enough for now! We'll be adding to our site time allows, and hopefully, you'll visit us again. If you have any questions, please contact us!