The rustle of tobacco and the rush of the river were awaiting us as we ran through the fields of the farm and slipped by the Mail Pouch barn, startling the cattle in our youthful passage. The goal was always the river.
We couldnât wait to put our feet into the cool waters of the Ohio River on those hot summer days. This was my dadâs homeplace and, throughout my life, this old farm carried a special place in my heart.
It was home to my great-great-grandfather Ed Kyle, who spent two terms as the sheriff of Cabell County in the late 1800s after the Civil War. My grandfather was well liked and generous to a fault. He was a wealthy land owner who donated property for the first free school in the area and the land for Olive Baptist Church.