© Jerry F. Couch

The untitled poem you are about to read was sent to the Clinch Valley Times many years ago by the late Elizabeth Gose Wolfe. Mrs. Wolfe taught fifth grade at Castlewood Elementary School for many years and those of us “of a certain” age remember her well.

The poem was written by James Oney Dickenson in 1927. The reason the date can be accurately confirmed is because 1927 was the only year Rev. G. C. McCay was the minister at Fort Gibson Methodist Episcopal Church South (its name at that time) in Castlewood. The ladies’ names mentioned in the poem will be very familiar to older residents of Castlewood because many of us were related to them.

Mr. Dickenson (son of Abel and Florence Oney Dickenson) was quite a keen observer of local life, and his commentary sometimes drew upon irony for its impact. I’ve read several of his poems and had clipped this one from the CVT when I was living in Williamsburg, VA. With the passage of time, and through several moves, the clipping was lost. Recently, while searching for something else in the CVT’s archives, I found it at last – and today I’m sharing it with you.

Readers should note that Mr. Dickenson probably exercised some creative “literary license” to poke fun at the church ladies. Here goes…

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Here is another poem penned by James Oney Dickenson – this time in a more serious vein. It was published in the Wentzville Union newspaper of Wentzville, Missouri on Oct. 11, 1918.

JAMES ONEY DICKESON OBITUARY – From the Nov. 1, 1973 edition of the Bristol Herald-Courier

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