Dear Folks,

For those who read and liked my recollection of my grandfather's singing, (and, to tell the truth, to see how well memory had served me), I went to the online archives of The Virginia Folklore Society to see what might be recorded there about him. I found ( in a much longer and, for the most part, drier, document) the following references.

"Two figures, who were important in the later periods of the [Virginia Folklore] Society's history, appeared on the scene for the first time at the 10th annual meeting on November 30, 1923... One of these persons was Benjamin C. Moomaw, Jr. of Barber, Virginia, who was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Society. He, along with Miss Alfreda M. Peel, 'delighted the audience by singing many of the ballads that the Society [had] collected.' The second individual was Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. [who] was elected Archivist of the Society at that meeting. [Davis authored the volumes, 'Traditional Ballads of Virginia' and 'More T. B. of VA']

... a collaborative effort to revitalize the Society shortly after Davis's death involved long-time members, Ben C. Moomaw, Jr., President; C. Alphonso Smith, Jr. and Virginia F. Jordan, Vice-Presidents; and Fred F. Knobloch, Secretary-Treasurer; ..., and many others.

...the reorganized Society retained the stamp of an earlier era, which was manifested to a large degree through the personalities and interests of Ben C. Moomaw, Jr., who continued as president of the Society until his death in 1978, and Fred F. Knobloch, the Society's secretary-treasurer...

Mr. Moomaw was a fine storyteller and singer, who insisted that the program for the meetings should be a mix of scholarly presentations alternating with ballad singing and tale telling. He also determined that Barbara Allen should be the Society's emblematic ballad and should be sung at the beginning of each meeting.

The front-page obituary for Moomaw in the Covington Virginian of March 13, 1978 noted that 'His hobby for Virginia Folklore brought him in contact with the Virginia Folklore Society and after serving as the state secretary for several years, he assumed the office of president of that group.' The lengthy memorial dwelt mostly on Moomaw's Chamber of Commerce work and it clearly held his greatest contribution to have been the effort to secure construction of Gathright Dam, which created the lake named for him, Lake Moomaw. For those who heard his virtuoso recitations from memory of examples from Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation at Society meetings, however, he will be remembered differently."

Had it about right, doncha reckon?

Shula