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James Madison University Libraries Special Collections
820 Madison DriveTiffany Cole
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Per seller's description: "From a Shenandoah Valley private collection."
[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Pendleton County (W. Va.) Meteorological Record Books, 1916-1957, SC 0394, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
Purchased September 7, 2024 from Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Inc. Summer Americana auction.
Elmer L. Keister (1883-1946) of Brandywine, West Virginia was a farmer by trade as well as a volunteer weather observer. He married Mary Armstrong Hoover (1883-1977) in 1907. Their daughter, Martha, was born in 1908.
Elmer Keister kept meticulous weather records for Pendleton County from at least 1916 until his death in 1946. Martha continued to add narrative weather observations until 1957.
Two bound meteorological record books documenting weather in Pendleton County, West Virginia. The record books were kept primarily by Elmer L. Keister (1883-1946) of Brandywine.
The volumes are both official U.S. Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau Voluntary Observer's Meteorological Record books and were kept by Keister until his death in 1946. His daughter, Martha Keister, continued the second book, but only added narrative updates to the "Unusual Meteorological Phenomena" section. The record books include the latitude, longitude, and elevation for the Brandywine weather station.
The record books contain monthly charts to track daily maximum and minimum temperatures, daily precipitation, and climatological data including "miscellaneous phenomena" (auroras, frosts, thunderstorms, tornadoes, etc.). Ice harvests are noted in this section.
At the end of each record book is a section titled "Unusual Meteorological Phenomena" to document, according to the section's instructions, "periods of unusual heat, cold, protracted drought, excessive rains, floods, violent storms, etc., with dates of occurrence." In addition to weather events, this section was also used to document livestock and crop reports including fruit and cider, births, deaths, marriages, road work and public utilities improvements, and community and family news. Multiple entries mention renting out the Keister farm after the death of Elmer Keister.
Entries of interest are listed below:
| 1918 | Spanish influenza arrived about the same time [September 22] and by Dec. 31 had sent a good round number to reap their reward above. | |
| 1919 | Brandywine was "hard hit" by the "flu" during the month of January, several deaths. | |
| 1921 | Had lots of whooping cough in this section this year. | |
| 1923 | A number of moonshine stills came into existence during the year. The star performer Jack Joyce was sent to the penitentiary at the July term of court for four years. | |
| 1927 | The year 1927 was to be the year without a summer. | |
| 1930 | The year 1930 was the worse drought since the year one. Total rainfall for the year was 15.95 inches. | |
| 1932 | The Lindbergh boy was kidnapped & murdered. |
Entries of interest are listed below:
| 1937 | West Penn built the power line, and the convicts arrived to hard surface Route 5. | |
| 1939 | Prison labor finished the surface on Route 33 and moved away. | |
| 1944 | John Puffenbarger's baby in the well turned out to be a rabbit after Franklin fire truck pumped the water out. | |
| 1946 | October 19, 1946 - Death of Elmer Keister. | |
| 1947 | Took Mama [Mary Hoover Keister] to Dr. in Harrisonburg on Jan. 2nd where she remained till Jan. 11th. | |
| 1948 | Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company extend telephone service to the Brandywine area. | |
| 1949 | In June we went through the most devastating flood that ever struck this section. Sugar Grove section was hardest hit in Pendleton. Thousands of dollars of damage. Most all crops were destroyed. Fences, [dam], and road way, wire bridge all washed away. | |
| New Methodist Church at Deer Run officially opened on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24. | ||
| Farm Women's Club established the 'South Fork Community Dump.' | ||
| 1954 | Entered the year with much uncertainty. Mama still is no better. No farm help worth a cuss any more. I decided to sell the farm and sold it to Walter Simpson...Crowd was estimated at 1,000 people - probably the largest to ever attend a public sale in Pendleton County. | |
| 1957 | Jury Service for women was first put into practice during Nov. term of Circuit Court when the Grand Jury made history for itself when it included the first woman to serve on a jury in Pendleton County. Mrs. Charles (Eunice) Matheny of Upper Tract was one of the 15 persons making up the jury. |