Return to the Land

Earl Jordan Miller

The sixth child of John Harvey and Minnie Catherine was Earl Jordan Miller who was born on December 23, 1907. Earl developed a strong attachment for the valley where he would live most of his life. He most likely helped his father farm and picked up part-time jobs around the neighborhood as a young man. Around 1931, at the age of 24, he married Fannie Evelyn Agee who lived a short distance up Kimberling from the Miller farm. During their first years of marriage they lived and worked on the Henry Helvey farm which was located north of the Salem Church. Here their two children were born, first was Emory Earl born on December 5, 1932 and then Sammie David on September 25, 1935. Dr. James Davidson, who practiced general medicine at Rocky Gap, Virginia, attended Evelyn with the birth of her sons. By now my parents, Stafford and “Polly” (Clara) had returned to Bland from Bluefield and were living on Nobusiness. Dad had purchased the Dalton Place, a property adjacent to his farm, where an old frame house stood. Arrangements were made for Earl and his family to move there and help on the farm. This turned out to be an unsatisfactory situation for the brothers. So, Earl and his family returned to Kimberling and moved in with his parents. By the late 1930’s clouds of war were gathering in Europe and it became obvious America would be drawn into the conflict. The war machine began turning in the states and Radford Ordnance Works, better known as the Radford Arsenal, began expanding its operations and hired thousands of workers. Since Earl had a family and the government needed men at the arsenal, Earl was deferred from the military service and was sent to work at the arsenal. The family moved to Radford where the children attended school and Earl became a government employee working at the ordnance plant throughout World War II. Earl longed for Kimberling so when the war ended in 1945 they moved into a log cabin owned by Oren Morehead which was located just southeast of John Harvey ’s farm. He began working for his brother Edgar in the sawmill and timber business. From the log cabin he moved his family back to his parent’s home. Grandfather died in 1946 and the farm and home place was divided between the siblings. His brother, Vaden, bought out the brothers and sisters and Earl took his share of the money and purchased a small farm and home in the most western part of Kimberling known as the Dalton Place, later bought by the Lilly family. On the farm the family became more self-sufficient. It was a small unit that provided much of their daily food that included cows for milk, hogs and chickens for food, and a vegetable garden. Sammie, their youngest son, and I were about the same age and we played together often. I remember they had a beautiful billy goat that would climb onto the barn roof and would play with us children. The goat had a strong mating drive and he wanted to make friends with all of the animals on the farm including the people. Earl was a great hunting enthusiast and always owned well-trained coon hounds that added to the scene in particular reference to the goat. Aunt Evelyn made simple but good meals and I always felt at home when visiting them. Uncle Earl took me on my first coon hunt and I remember listening to the dogs howl and bay in the dark of the night.

66