Melcenia Liston (Miller) Ballengee (1870 - 1959)

Born 19 Nov 1870 in Greenbrier County, West Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Mar 1959 at age 88 in Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia

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Biography

Daughter of Andrew Jackson Miller and Sarah Duncan. Much loved great grandmother lived at 808 Highland Ave in Bluefield West Virginia. She was one of the hardest working people I have ever known. Her Great Grandchildren loved coming to visit her in her Victorian house on a street with beautiful Victoria homes. She would get up before dawn and prepare breakfasts of ham, bacon, pancakes, fresh custard, scrambled eggs, fresh bread with homemade jams and jellies and fresh cream butter. There was always a feast! Every morning she swept her front porch free of the coal dust that settled there. She lived on the hill overlooking the coal yards and railroad, and one of my fondest memories is looking out the nursery window to the coal yard down below watching the trains and feeling the lace curtains, against my arms as they flowed out the window in the breeze. My big feather bed was heaven and I loved the souvenirs from their travel to NYC and the 1939 World's Fair. Her home had all the Victorian details, oriental rugs, tiffany style lamps, glassed in parlor with lace doilies over everything. Her dioramas under glass and beautiful china cabinet with cut glass crystal influenced me to build a victorian style house and furnish it accordingly. I would sit at the top of the stairs waiting for the sun to shine through the leaded glass window transoms producing magic prizms across the maple panelled hallway...heaven. Grandma was very intelligent and she and I had many long discussions of her past and her family that settled the area many many years ago; Favorite memories: Having our own Bell jar lid to make my own little pie to go into her wood/coal stove. Her grafted cherry Apple tree that also had a huge concord grape vine in it. So this one tree had cherries, apples and grapes. When as a child, I shared this information with my 2nd grade class, my teacher said there was impossible. My mom had to educate her about Victorian horticulture. My great Grandmother is loved and missed.

Sources

• First hand knowledge.

FindaGrave memorial # 114576247