West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 92 by Charlie Miller

_____November 27, 1894 – Regular meeting of Council, Mayor Hull presiding: 

Minutes of the October 9th meeting were read. Mayor Hull again voiced his objections to the latter part of said minutes and would not permit the reading of them. It was then moved by McCarty, seconded by Slaven that the Clerk proceed with the reading of the minutes. The motion was declared out of order. It was then moved by Smith, seconded by McCarty that an appeal be taken from the decision of the Chair. Mayor Hull refused to consent to the motion of appeal. Moved by McCarty seconded by Smith that the minutes of the October 9th meeting be not approved. All voted yes except Slaven who refused to vote. Motion carried. Moved by McCarty seconded by Smith that the Clerk proceed with the reading of the remainder of the minutes. The motion was declared out of order. Moved by Slaven seconded by McCarty that the reading of the minutes be postponed until the next regular meeting. Motion carried. 

____December 11, 1894 – Regular Council meeting - motion made by Smith seconded by McCarty that a committee of two be appointed to secure an attorney at the expense of the Corporation, to settle upon some plan to approve the minutes. All voted yea. The Mayor appointed Bazler and Braithwaite to the committee. 

____January 8, 1895 – Regular Council meeting- A communication was received from B. H. Lewis an attorney, in which he explained how a satisfactory adjustment could be made to the minutes of the previous meeting. The council refused to accept his advice. (The bill for the Opera House chairs was finally paid on July 9, 1895! Council members were: James Slaven, Henry Miller, John Bazler, William Smith, James McCarty, and Isaac Braithwaite.) 

_____1894 – From The Madison County Democrat, taken from The Washington Post. The last veteran of the Revolutionary War died on April 6, 1869, at the age of 109. It is predicted that the chances are that the man who is destined to bear the proud but melancholy distinction of being the last survivor of the Civil War will not live later than 1950. (According to Google the last surviving Revolutionary War veteran was Lemuel Cook, who died May 20, 1866, at the age of 106. The last surviving veteran of the Union Civil War veteran was Albert Woolston who died August 2, 1956, at the age of 106. the last Confederate veteran was Pleasant Cump who died December 31, 1951, at the age of 104) 

____April 17, 1895 -Dr. L. H. Black, the Dentist, is now located in the Odd Fellows Block. 

____May 22, 1895 – A man comes in from a hard day’s work. He is met at the door by a drunken wife. A family quarrel ensues and a loaded pistol is produced. A shot is followed by a cry of pain and a murderess flees the county. Such is the tale of matricide reported from West Jefferson. Theo. White, colored, living on the Asa Silver farm 2 ½ miles west of Jefferson, on the Urbana Pike, (Rt. 29) was shot by his wife and killed.