Presented by Linda Cunningham Fluharty.

THE HISTORY HERO AWARD

The State of West Virginia has asked that state, county and local historical, genealogical, preservation, patriotic and/or museum organizations nominate a significant member for a History Hero Award for his/her dedicated service for the organization's programs or a recent significant contribution to state and local history through research, interpretation, publication or preservation. The winners are honored at an annual event in Charleston.

The Wheeling Area Genealogical Society awardees are listed on this page. Other organizations in Wheeling, such as the Historical Society, the D. A. R., and Independence Hall, also nominate individuals for the award. All are listed on the Archives' website.

Carol Bell has been a member of the board of directors of the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society since 2014 and has been sending meeting notices since 2015. She has given several presentations, written two books on her family, organized a genealogy research trip to Washington, PA, and donated historical materials of a longtime Ohio County clerk, now archived at the Ohio County Public Library. Bell handled the society’s fiftieth anniversary during COVID, which included a mayoral proclamation and a series of public media articles. She also co-chaired the planning committee for the 150th anniversary of Roney’s Point United Presbyterian Church and compiled a book on the event.

Steven Davis has spent countless hours volunteering at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Wheeling. While he began with cutting the grass, his efforts have evolved into recovering buried markers, repairing and resetting them, and planting flowers and shrubs. Davis has drawn attention to the cemetery through online posts of before and after views of volunteer work and some of the people interred in the cemetery. He was a leading force in establishing the cemetery as a non-profit, which will enable additional funds to support the cemetery maintenance and renovation in the future. His dedication and leadership have been invaluable in the renovation of Mt. Zion Cemetery.

Wendy Kay Elswick has assumed a leadership role in the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society as newsletter editor since 2018 and vice president pro tempore since late 2019. She provides program and research information in the newsletter and through the website, promotes local historical information, and participates in period costume at events throughout the Wheeling area, including cemetery tours and genealogical meetings. Elswick made a concerted effort in 2018 to save the 240-year-old former Ohio County Courthouse building in West Liberty that would have included moving the building to Wheeling and establishing a Revolutionary Era park. Though ultimately unsuccessful, her effort raised awareness about the history of the building.

Wheeling Intelligencer, Feb. 18, 2020: "Louis A. Yurkovitch is a former president of the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society and serves as a member of the board of directors and as webmaster. He has taught genealogy classes and acquired computer equipment and peripherals, helping the society enter the modern era. His efforts have made the organization more attractive to members who rely on social media. As website administrator, Yurkovitch has worked to create one location from which information can be disseminated about meetings, classes, genealogy, and local people and history. The site not only carries information about the genealogical society, but also publicizes the meetings and events of other local historical and genealogical organizations."

Wheeling Intelligencer, Feb. 12, 2019: "...a tireless researcher of cemetery markers and genealogical information in Ohio, Marshall, Brooke and Belmont counties. Over the past six years, she has responded to an amazing 3,846 individual requests for information and added more than 20,000 photos to Find A Grave, her nominators stated."

Wheeling Intelligencer, Feb. 19, 2018: "Bourne also has compiled local reference materials, such as census and birth records and cemetery listings, and has performed extensive work on the society's obituary file. "He is an invaluable asset to the society and to Wheeling's genealogy efforts in general," society officials stated in the nomination." [Photo provided by Carol Bell.]

(Note: Albert Lee Bourne, born in Fairmont, West Virginia on October 19, 1947, died on May 5, 2018.)

Diane M. Rhodes has staffed the Wheeling Room at the Ohio County Public Library for 17 years and helps people researching their family history, making the library an essential stop for genealogists. She created a user-friendly pamphlet that takes patrons step by step through the process and has assisted people applying for the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. Rhodes also has compiled several genealogy-related books and is currently compiling an index of Wheeling obituaries. She loves genealogy and is willing to go the extra mile to help patrons.

Deacon Douglas W. Breiding, president of the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society for the past two years, has been instrumental in the design of a database of interments from all local cemeteries that eventually will permit retrieval of a list of interments based upon a variety of criteria. Still in the test phase, the database has more than 26,000 records of interments. He has designed other databases for cemeteries and created maps for several of them, and, in 2012, he received the Friend of Mt. Calvary Award for maintaining the database of Mt. Calvary Cemetery interments. In addition, Deacon Breiding periodically offers a beginner's genealogy course at the Ohio County Public Library.

Glenna Dillon has been a member of the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society for almost ten years and currently is a board member, book committee member, and occasional substitute secretary. She is a very active genealogical researcher, transcriber, and compiler, as well as a conscientious and reliable society member who helps as a volunteer in the Wheeling Room at the Ohio County Public Library. For several years, she has volunteered for Fort Henry Days. Dillon researched and wrote The Cemeteries of Ohio County, West Virginia (2007), and she has extracted records for several funeral homes.

Hazel Kerby has been the volunteer file clerk for obituaries for thirty years. She faithfully attends the WAGS meetings, and she is always available to assist the organization in any way she can.

(Note: Hazel R. Kerby, born in Wheeling on June 15, 1928, died February 17, 2016 at Wheeling Hospital.)

GLORIA PALMER BRINKMEIER has held several offices with the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society (WAGS) and currently is treasurer and a member of the book committee. She designs and prints the yearly program book and volunteers in the Wheeling Room of the Ohio County Public Library. She developed a tracking system for books and CDs, developed and chaired a new family history contest for eighth graders in Ohio County schools, and was co-author of a book on Mt. Calvary Cemetery. In addition to WAGS, Gloria is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in which organization she served as chapter secretary for three years and presently is chapter historian.

PHYLLIS WALTERS, currently serving as recording secretary for the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society, started by filing obituaries for the late Audra Wayne. She took over the task in 1998 and since has developed her own system. She spends 20-30 hours per week on obituary filing work. Additionally, Phyllis has served on the book committee and assisted others with their tasks.

(Note: Phylllis Gellner Walters, born in Wheeling on May 28, 1939, died May 12, 2011 at Ohio Valley Medical Center.)

NANCY LEWELLEN ROE has served the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society (WAGS) as its president, vice president, and secretary. She has been a volunteer in the Wheeling room and has trained others to help. Always a willing worker, Roe gladly volunteers to work at expos, book sales, fairs, and other events. She has also done research for others and made contributions to WAGS's Web page on the internet. At present, Roe is compiling Ohio County Infirmary (Poor Farm) records and Oakland Cemetery records.

(Note: Nancy Lewellen Roe, born in Wheeling on September 12, 1955, died January 12, 2009 at her home in Glen Dale.)

June Jefferson copied application records for naturalization and transferred them to pages, resulting in the creation of eleven indexed books covering the period of 1837-1904. Jefferson also created a book from more than two hundred memorial cards that she collected, copied, and alphabetized. These books have been added to the Ohio County Public Library. She hopes to produce another book with cards from all over the United States.

(Note: E. June Warner Jefferson, born June 17, 1918 in Wheeling, died at Peterson Rehabilitation Center on June 30, 2012.)

Wheeling native, Linda Cunningham Fluharty, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, created and maintains the website of the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society, as well as the West Virginia GenWeb sites for Marshall, Pleasants and Calhoun Counties. She also has websites for four complete West Virginia Civil War regiments, all related to the Wheeling area. Linda has compiled three Civil War books: On the Way Home... West Virginia Soldiers on the Sultana; Civil War - West Virginia, Union Lives Lost and The Civil War Letters of Lt. Milton B. Campbell, 12th West Virginia Infantry.

William E. Maxwell of Wheeling is an asset to the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society (WAGS) and to the patrons of the Wheeling Room of the Ohio County Public Library, which houses the society's record collection. Mr. Maxwell's contributions include collecting and maintaining newspaper articles for the vertical files; working as a volunteer to help visitors; serving as chairman of the book committee; and volunteering to work at genealogy fairs and expos. He is presently serving as treasurer and corresponding secretary of the society. Nominated by the WAGS.

(NOTE: Mr. Maxwell, born in Clarksburg, West Virginia on October 27, 1929, died at his home in Wheeling on February 8, 2000.)

Clarice (Eller) Stanley resides in Martins Ferry, Ohio but she is a native West Virginian and a pillar of the area genealogy community. She has devoted much of her life to the research of many of the Ohio Valley pioneer families, the Yoho Family among them. Clarice is always willing to share her work and is extremely generous with her time, as she helps others, including on the Internet. She is a volunteer researcher for the Marshall County Historical Society and has held a number of positions in the Daughters of the American Revolution.

(NOTE: Clarice Eller Stanley, born in Marshall County on November 8, 1923, died December 23, 2014 in Martins Ferry, Ohio.)

Mary E. (Coss) Staley, Martins Ferry, Ohio, a member of the the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society (WAGS), has been an untiring advocate for the advancement of genealogical research in the Wheeling area. Her numerous activities include the compilation of local cemetery, church, census and marriage records for publication. She volunteers each Tuesday in the Wheeling Room of the Ohio County Public Library, helping researchers access available resources. Staley co-sponsors the WAGS web page and presently serves as vice-president, program chairman and hospitality chairman for the group.

Mr. John R. Logan was chosen as our History Hero for 1999. On West Virginia History Day, March 4, he received his History Hero Award at the Capitol Building in Charleston. John has worked 2 afternoons every week for over 20 years in the Wheeling Room answering questions, guiding folks to the right section, sharing history and genealogy, stacking and reshelving books. Whatever you were looking for, John knew where to find it.

Phyllis Slater and Audra Wayne were selected as the W.A.G.S.'s first "History Heroes" for their major contributions in the realm of history and genealogy in the Wheeling area. They were among the founders of the Wheeling Room at the Ohio County Public Library and they devoted countless hours to provide an abundance of materials for researchers. Audra died in 1999 and Phyllis continues, with others, to carry on their important work.