Tributes – Page 2 – Wise County Historical Society

A Tribute to Billy R. Porter

Bill’s first publication was William Lawson, A Scottish Rebel, a history of the Lawson and other allied families. His second publication was, School Bells From The Past, bits and pieces of Wise County School history. He is currently working on Volume II of School Bells and a book on Politics in Wise County. He also compiled Our Community Heritage-Banner, Virginia, which is now in its second printing. Bill provided information and articles for Coeburn, Virginia, area history published by the Coeburn Kiwanis Club.

In school, Bill’s favorite subject was history. About three decades ago he started doing local and regional historical research and this led him to become acquainted with the area historians whose tremendous knowledge was a great help.

His first publication was William Lawson, A Scottish Rebel, a history of the Lawson and other allied families. His second publication was, School Bells From The Past, bits and pieces of Wise County School history. He is currently working on Volume II of School Bells and a book on Politics in Wise County. He also compiled Our Community Heritage-Banner, Virginia, which is now in its second printing. Bill provided information and articles for Coeburn, Virginia, area history published by the Coeburn Kiwanis Club.

Bill is a charter member of the Wise County Historical Society and volunteers several days a week to work in the office and bookstore. Bill copies and binds all our books for sale and all donated material for our archives and performs other various chores. He is indeed a valuable member of the Society.

Bill served four years in the Air Force, honorably discharged in 1965 and is married to Diann Perry. They have three children: Richard Porter, Kelly, married Paul Byrant; and Jane who married John Hall, Jr. The Porter family reside in the Banner community near Coeburn, Virginia.

A Tribute to Denver J. “Bud” Osborne

Denver J. “Bud” Osborne is a charter member of the Wise County Historical Society, serves as its Vice-President and has held that position for several years. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Norton serving as Deacon and Sunday School teacher. He is an orchardist who enjoys teaching pruning and grafting of fruit trees. Bud is a member of 40 years with Suthers Lodge #259 in Norton. He is also an avid collector of fountain pens and Indian artifacts.

Denver J. “Bud” Osborne

Bud is the compiler of the book, Apple Blossoms of Yesteryear, a history of the apple industry in Wise County. He can be found volunteering in the society’s office on Thursday afternoons. Bud is constantly on the lookout for rare books for our archives and due to his sharp eye for them, the archives is fortunate to have several rare books, photos and documents we otherwise would not have had. Bud refinishes copies of old black & white photographs in full color, stating the subjects were indeed in color at the time the picture was taken, but there was no color film then. He is a man of many talents.

He is married to the former Katherine McCamey of St. Paul. Kathy is a realtor with Century 21 in Wise. They have three children: Penny Osborne who lives in Charlotte, NC; Jackie who lives in Wise and is married to Ed Withrow, and D.J., Jr. who lives in Santa Cruz, CA and is still single. Jackie and Ed are the parents of Bud and Cathy’s two grandchildren, Edward Denver and Alexander Logan. Bud and Cathy make their home in Wise.

A Tribute to Lillian C. Gobble

Lillian, also a Wise County native, grew up near Wise and attended Wise High school. Lil is extremely knowledgeable on Wise County Families and genealogy and seldom is there a visitor to the Historical Society whom she cannot help trace their family.

Lillian Hamilton Gobble

Genealogist

Lillian and her husband Bill has copied many Marriage and Death records from Wise County Court files and housed them in notebooks for the Historical Society Archives.

Lil is instrumental in locating and erecting stones for Wise County’s Civil War soldiers and spends hours documenting their service and ordering their stones from the Veteran’s Administration.

Lil, along with Rhonda Robertson is currently working on a book of the Wise County Civil War Veterans, our next project. She also serves as chairman of our Cemetery Committee, organized to locate, document and mark the graves of Civil War Soldier and early settlers.

Lillian Volunteers time at the Historical Society office. Her sincere effort in helping with research comes through to the researchers and they never forget her.

A Tribute to Dorothy Hall Witt

Dorothy Hall Witt our distinguished first president and charter member of the Wise County Historical Society was instrumental in the compiling and publishing of The Heritage of Wise County and The City of Norton, Volume 1 and 2, among other publications. She was also instrumental in the establishing of the Wise County Historical Society. She served as the President of the Historical Society the first years of its establishment.

Dorothy at Work

First President of Wise County Historical Society

We, the members of the Wise County Historical Society, would like to take this opportunity to offer a tribute to our first president, Dorothy Hall Witt. Without her foresight and perseverance the Historical Society of Wise County would not exist today.

Dorothy Hall Witt our distinguished first president and charter member of the Wise County Historical Society was instrumental in the compiling and publishing of The Heritage of Wise County and The City of Norton, Volume 1 and 2, among other publications. She was also instrumental in the establishing of the Wise County Historical Society. She served as the President of the Historical Society the first years of its establishment.

While helping on the Lee County Book Committee in the creating of the Bicentennial History of Lee County Virginia published in 1991, Dorothy felt the need for the same in Wise County, and was instrumental in forming a group of Wise County historians who published their own Heritage of Wise County and the City of Norton Volume 1 in 1993. She was Chairman of the Book Committee and was elected President of the Wise County Historical Society when it was organized.

For the past 8 years Dorothy has served as recording secretary for the Wise County Historical Society and has worked a day or two a week at the office in the courthouse. She also is the editor of the Aging Gracefully segment of the Appalachian Quarterly published by Wise County Historical Society. She along with her friend and co-worker, Wanda Rose traveled over the county working on volume 1 of Wise County and the City of Norton, and installing lifelines for disabled and the elderly, she became interested in interviewing older people, which was the birth of Aging Gracefully in Appalachia.

Dorothy’s heritage is completely Appalachian as her father was a native of Lee County and her mother was a native of Russell County. Dorothy was born in Norton, grew up in Powell Valley, graduated from East Stone Gap High School, lived in Coeburn for twenty years and has lived in Wise for the past 33 years. She completed several courses at Clinch Valley College in English, Creative writing and Appalachian culture.

Dorothy worked for 14 years for the Department of Social Services, then worked as a medical transcriptionist and secretary at Wise Appalachian Regional Hospital for 19 years, retiring in 1989 to travel and pursue all the volunteer activities in which she was interested.

She has two sons, Hal Addington of Pinckney, Michigan, and Tim Addington of Atlanta, Georgia, and one granddaughter, April Addington, a sophomore at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Dorothy is married to Harold Witt and they reside in Wise.

Dorothy is a dedicated member, wife, mother, and grandmother. She is good company and has a great sense of humor.