A Guide to the Papers of Ruth G. Hale

Access and use

Location of collection:
Roanoke Public Libraries
Virginia Room
Roanoke Public Libraries
706 South Jefferson Street
Roanoke, VA 24016
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Dyron Knick
Phone: (540) 853-2073

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This is a genealogical collection focusing on the Hale/Ahl/All families and connecting families. Many other families of Craig County, Virginia and surrounding areas are also included. Materials in the collection include notes, correspondence, news clippings and copies of official records (births, marriages, deaths, cemeteries, funeral homes, military pensions etc.) along with photographs: both originals and copies and photo negatives. Date range for the collection: the collection was created between ca. 1970 and 2001; materials included in the collection cover the 16th-20th centuries, with coverage varying for each family name. Names and locations will turn up multiple times throughout the records. Researchers interested in a certain family or locality should make sure to go through the name files as well as the cemetery files and files organized geographically by county or locality. Geographical designations are made at various levels: county, city or town, and cemetery names. Many of the family records include photographs; there are also photographs of buildings and local historical landmarks. Folders with photographs are marked. This includes original photographs as well as the photocopies Mrs. Hale often made of original family photographs. The cemetery records in the collections often include photographs of markers, maps and Mrs. Hale

Biographical / historical:

Ruth Gerda Hale was born April 26, 1926 in Bernstadt, Schlesien (Silesia), which then was part of Germany. Her parents were Paul Robert and Meta Gertrud Mcke [sic] Gottschalk. After World War II the family moved to Pocking, West Germany as refugees. Here Ruth met Charles W. Hale, Jr., who was stationed in Pocking with the U.S. Army. They married on February 14, 1948, and Ruth eventually emigrated with her husband to his home in Waiteville in Monroe County, WV. They continued to move frequently, living in West Point, NY, Colorado Springs, CO, Ft. Eustis, Virginia, Japan and Germany before settling in Cloverdale, Botetourt County, VA. Mrs. Hale had three daughters: Irene Joy (Remines), Heidi Marina (Turpin), and Letha Mae Gerda Hale. Genealogy was Mrs. Hale’s passion. She began keeping family records in the mid-1970s, researching her husband’s family connections and the families of whomever asked her for help. Her work focused on Craig County and surrounding areas. In addition to doing local research, she used the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Libraries and other libraries and archives. Mrs. Hale was known especially for travelling around to meet with the family members of those she was researching; according to her daughter Heidi, her presence at family reunions in the area soon became both welcome and expected. The materials in this collection clearly show the results of her personal approach. Her work was also a family effort. Mrs. Hale loved hiking, and together she and her husband Charles would go on hikes to record remote cemeteries. Her daughter Heidi also helped, typing the manuscripts for Mrs. Hale’s publications. She published three volumes of Craig County, Virginia marriages (1851-1881, 1882-1910 and 1911-1938) and volumes of the 1920 Census for Craig County and Roanoke County, VA. Ruth Hale lived in Cloverdale at the time of her death, March 25, 2001. She is buried in New Zion Union Church Cemetery, Waiteville, WV.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Charles W. Hale, Jr.
Physical description:
29 letter storage boxes