DINNER THEATER

October 6, 2012

Central United Methodist Church-Sponsored by Marion County Historical Society

Doors open at 5:30

Catered by Linda Jack

Tickets; ($20.00-Must be purchased by 10/1)

Jane Gilchrist, was born and raised in Ohio but “came home” to West Virginia in 2005.  The mountains and valleys are in her blood as surely as if she had grown from the soil itself.  Her West Virginia ancestry traces to John Hacker who arrived in western Virginia in the mid 18th century in the company of the Pringle brothers.

A true Appalachian at heart she celebrates her Scots-Irish, Belgian, Anglo heritage and believes that she is a true child of the West Virginia hills.

Currently a student at Fairmont State University she is enrolled in the Regents Bachelor of Arts Program with an emphasis on Folklore and Museum Studies.  Her impersonation of Mrs. Camden was born out of a love of the Weston State Hospital and the history and heritage that it represents for Weston and West Virginia.

The mother of two young adults she enjoys spending time with her family and grandsons.  In her free time she enjoys reading and fiber arts.  She credits her mother, and her father with instilling a love of all things West Virginia in her.

Susan Elizabeth (Holt) Camden, was born in January, 1834 in Weston, Virginia.  The daughter of Johnathan and Eliza (Wilson) Holt she married Dr. Thomas Bland Camden in 1854.  She was laid to rest in the Oddfellows Cemeter in Parkersburg, WV in November of 1924.

During her lifetime she was a witness to major historical events including: the “unpleasantness” of the War Between the States, the birth of West Virginia, exploration of new frontiers, World War I and the building of a national landmark.  She was related by birth and marriage to many of the men who shaped the western Allegheny Frontier.  As the mother of 6 children guided them to adulthood from the family home in Weston and from 1872-1880 in the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane as the wife of the Superintendent.

Mrs.  and Dr. Camden was asleep in her bed when Federal forces arrived in Weston for the first time on the morning of June 30, 1861.  She lived the majority of those war years in Weston except for the period of time in 1861 when she was “under arrest” with her family and placed at Camp Chase, Ohio.    When her husband served as a Federal Doctor at the asylum being constructed across the river she knew not how important that very building would be to their future.

She would entertain the men of her husband’s acquaintance and met men who would form the nation.  She would have tea with doctors and lawyers; U.S. Senators and future Presidents.

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