Because one of Cox's April columns, "WOYM: More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive" referenced a "Tazewell Orren Hunt," I thought Tazewell might be connected to my great-aunt Cora Nace's husband, Thomas Orren Hunt. (I'd blogged about Cora and her husband in this December 10 post: "Cora Virginia Nace Hunt") Orren is not a common name.
**April 19, 2020: "WOYM: More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-more-nace-memories-surface-from-attempts-to-revive-manganese-mining-to-snakes-not-alive/article_b91503d5-4e17-502d-aafd-4d842dd5b1a6.html
**June 21, 2020: "WOYM: Reader seeks help finding out more about a long-ago storekeeper in Nace"
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-reader-seeks-help-finding-out-more-about-a-long-ago-storekeeper-in-nace/article_0e1e2ae3-4588-5b94-a980-9873d3f135f7.html
**June 28, 2020: WOYM: "Nace storekeeper ID'd thanks to Botetourt County family connections"
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-nace-storekeeper-idd-thanks-to-botetourt-county-family-connections/article_93d29e59-53b2-5bba-93b3-5c77ff651cdb.html
**July 27, 2020: "WOYM: Family historians help piece together the backstory on 'Uncle T.O. of Botetourt" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-family-historians-help-piece-together-the-backstory-on-uncle-t-o-of-botetourt/article_9339b544-aa20-586d-be24-2ce89e2e5094.html
I did some research and could find nothing about a "Tazewell Orren Hunt." I concluded that "Tazewell" had to have been "Thomas." I emailed Ray Co about what I'd learned. As a good reporter would do, Cox did some more researching himself. Hence the story in the July 27 newspaper: "WOYM: Family historians help piece together the backstory on 'Uncle T.O.' of Botetourt."
Mystery solved.
Sources:
Because some readers of this blog are interested in Botetourt County hisotry, here are the URLs to related "WOYM" stories about the town of Nace and about Uncle T.O. in order they appeared in the Roanoke Times:
**April 5 "WOYM: Botetourt County's Nace had ties to region's iron mining history"
**April 19, 2020: "WOYM: More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-more-nace-memories-surface-from-attempts-to-revive-manganese-mining-to-snakes-not-alive/article_b91503d5-4e17-502d-aafd-4d842dd5b1a6.html
**June 21, 2020: "WOYM: Reader seeks help finding out more about a long-ago storekeeper in Nace"
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-reader-seeks-help-finding-out-more-about-a-long-ago-storekeeper-in-nace/article_0e1e2ae3-4588-5b94-a980-9873d3f135f7.html
**June 28, 2020: WOYM: "Nace storekeeper ID'd thanks to Botetourt County family connections"
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-nace-storekeeper-idd-thanks-to-botetourt-county-family-connections/article_93d29e59-53b2-5bba-93b3-5c77ff651cdb.html
**July 27, 2020: "WOYM: Family historians help piece together the backstory on 'Uncle T.O. of Botetourt" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-family-historians-help-piece-together-the-backstory-on-uncle-t-o-of-botetourt/article_9339b544-aa20-586d-be24-2ce89e2e5094.html
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