WERTZ FIELD
This is my personal family
photo and one of the best examples of aviation photography taken in our
area.
You may have seen this photo
published elsewhere, but you never learned of the story it
possessed:
O.R. Hamrick is seen above with his arms folded for
this picture.
Missing in the photo above is my Uncle's plane, The National Commander
because they didnt have room. But a photo was
taken of his plane. Here it is along with the owner Lewis
Johnson. The ladies may be his wife and secretary.
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I wont get into a long story of being adopted as a
newborn, but I did meet my Bio family in my mid 20s. My
fathers side were all from Webster County. The Hamricks
practically owned the county. While few of them were wealthy by a long
shot, they still managed to live some pretty exciting lives
because they were born with what I call "the spark": A need
to learn and try new and different things. This is in my DNA and
the puzzle fits perfectly. For instance: My father built his
first plane in the late 50s, rode Harley's, and even
skydived at age 60. I also jumped that very same year.
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BUT
THIS PHOTO IS ABOUT MY UNCLE ORAL, MY FATHERS OLDEST BROTHER
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His name was O. R
Hamrick, the oldest of the 5 Hamrick brothers. He was one of the early
aviators in WV. He was also the manager of the Clarksburg Airport
while still in his mid 20s. He was such a
skilled aviator, that his job was flying the "National
Commander" airplane, one of the finest private aircraft in the
state, and arguably the entire United States at the time. The
owner of the National Commander was Louis Johnson, famous founder
of Steptoe & Johnson law firm. Johnson was National Commander
of the American Legion at the time, (1932-33) and would later
become Secretary Of Defense during WWII mostly because he was
the chief fund raiser for Harry S. Truman's 1948 presidential
campaign. He lived in Clarksburg as did my Uncle.
This airplane was "an event" everyplace it landed in 1931. Not only was
aviation relatively new in the day, but many West Virginians had
never seen an airplane like this right in their own backyard.
As a side note,
my Uncle flew the plane (and others) to Canada many times to pick up
Booze during prohibition and transport it back to Clarksburg.
Naturally, all of the local authorities were in on it and so my
Uncle was pretty free to do his job without much worry.
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THE CRASH
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Oral, with his cousin
as copilot took off from Clarksburg in Nov of 1932 to pick up Louis
Johnson in Wash DC and bring him home so that he could cast his ballot
for the US elections. The weather was possibly marginal and let's
face it, you pretty much flew by the seat of your pants in
1932. Crossing the mountains between WV and Virginia, the
plane went down, possibly due to icing, and both pilots were
killed instantly. For the next three days, the crash was front
page news in every newspaper in WV and beyond. (I know, I
archived them)
Here is just one front
page from Huntington WV. Click on the newspaper and you will
be able to read the article.
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The interesting thing about my father
making his first parachute jump on his 60th birthday is.... that I too
made my first parachute jump that same year, but we wouldnt know that
for some time.
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They say that every family
has one special story. This is mine.
This
is me and my father, Harold Hamrick before he died. He came to
visit and I took this photo and superimposed his mustache on to me just
to show the resemblance. Life gets complicated. Make peace with
it.
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AN INTERESTING CONNECTION
All
families have interesting connections. The same family can have a
rich side, and a poor side. This was the case of the Hamricks.
About 95% of the Hamricks in America originated in Webster County West
Virginia. To this day, you will see the Hamrick name everywhere. An
interesting thing I've learned about the Hamricks is that they were all
intelligent. Even if they never passed 6th or 7th Grade, they all
had what I call "the Spark". This allowed them to become
successful no matter what they did. Success can mean many things.
It can mean you worked hard and provided for your family but was never
without what you needed in life. It can also mean that you
managed to do even more, and become wealthy. There were two basic
splits in the family tree. One became wealthy, while the other did OK
by anyone's standards. For instance: The statue of the
Mountaineer on the Statehouse lawn? That was modeled "Rimfire" Hamrick
from Webster County. A well know Hamrick in Charleston was Dr
Hamrick, who's mansion stood on Fort Hill for all to see. (his
sons are doctors also). They claim "it's all Relative in WV".
This is very true, at least for the people who were here for many
generations. I can personally connect with every Hamrick in
America today. How you say? Because the same Hamricks that came
to the country in the 1700s are the same Hamrick line today.
It took me
50 years to discover that I had another locally famous relative in town.
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Lenard Riggleman was the President of
Morris Harvey College, now the University of Charleston.
The Hall and dormitory is named
after him today. He had a great influence on the college.
His mother was Harriet Hamrick of Webster County.
The connection:
My father and his parents on the right.
Riggleman's mother and family on the left.
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