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(Photo by Calvin Shepherd - Use By Permission)
Alderson West Virginia - A History
Well Known Women
It   is   unusual   that   more   women   residents   of   Alderson   have   attracted   fame   or   attention   than   men.   One   reason   is   that   Alderson   is   the   location   of   a famed   woman’s   prison.   Elsewhere   in   this   history   are   recounted   facts   about   Miss   Emma   Alderson,   Dr.   Mary   B.   Harris,   Tokyo   Rose,   Axis   Sally,   Edith Gurley   Flynn,   and   other   women.   The   last   three   women   named   were   prisoners   and   certainly   did   not   engage   in   any   community   activity   but   they   lived here and had Alderson in the headlines across the nation. Recently   Robert   C.   Ruark,   nationally   known   columnist   and   author,   wrote   a   lengthy   article   a   bout   "Bricktop".      Ruark   says   red-headed   freckle-faced "Bricktop"   was   the   Queen   of   Paris   in   the   roaring   20's,   where   in   1924   she   opened   a   world   famous   club   in   which   she   sang   many   songs   in   fractured French,   smoked   big   black   cigars,   and   could   drink   all   the   brandy   customers   would   buy   her.      To   her   place   came   the   world's   great,   the   kings,   the queens,   the   writers,   composers,   poets,   the   politicians,   the   rich,   the   big   business   men.      "Bricktop's"   place   was   chic   and   the   place   to   go.      Ruark   said "Bricktop"   told   him   she   judge   the   success   of   a   night   by   the   number   of   kings   in   the   house.      One   night   she   had   five   kings   and   the   Prince   of   Wales.               In 1951   she   left   Paris   for   Rome   and   there   she   became   equally   successful.      To   her   place   near   Hotel   Excelsior   came   the   resident   Romans,   the   tourists, and   the   foreign   colony.     Ada   Smith   has   become   a   Catholic   convert,   and   is   devout.      She   has   been   very   active   in   charities   for   Italian   orphans.      The   last three Popes knew "Bricktop" and granted here semi-private audiences. Ruark   says   that   now   "Bricktop's"   liver   is   going   back   on   here,   and   she   is   tired   of   staying   up   all   night. She   must   be   more   that   75.      Besides,   kings   and queens   are   getting   scarce,   so   "Bricktop"   has   closed   up   here   Roman   place.      She   plans   to   return   to   the   United   States   and   open   a   small   cocktail   lounge in   New   Youk   probably,   or   San   Francisco,   and   go   to   bed   early.   (Here   is   a   YouTube   video    of   Bricktop   at   about   the   age   of   70)   Also   see   Bricktop’s Wikipedia  page. One   of   Alderson’s   famous   women   was   Mrs.   Alex   McVeigh   Miller.   She   had   fine   literary   talent   yet   deliberately   set   out   to   write   the   most   "sensational" fiction   of   her   time,   solely   for   money.   She   succeeded.   Mittie   Frances   Clark   Point   was   born   in   Virginia   before   the   Civil   War,   in   a   family of   ten   children.   She   was   graduated   from   Richmond   Female   Institute   at   nineteen,   where   she   was   considered   talented   in   literary   work. She   married   Thomas   Jefferson   Davis   and   lived   in   Washington   for   a   time.   There   she   began   writing.   Her   first   novel   was   Rosamond which   sold   for   $100.00.   Her   husband   and   little   daughter   died   in   Washington.   For   a   time   Mrs.   Davis   earned   $5.00   per   week   writing   a syndicated   letter   on   the   actions   of   Congress.   This   was   hard   work   for   the   money,   so   she   returned   to   her   father’s   home.   In   1878   she married   Alex   McVeigh   Miller.   They   lived   at   Hawk’s   Nest   briefly   and   then   tried   farming   in   Nicholas   County.   Then   they   returned   to Miller’s   parent’s   home   in   Alderson   where   their   first   daughter,   Irene,   was   born.   (Irene   Miller   Chainey   died   recently   and   is   buried   in Alderson.) (Click on photo for larger view) After   two   years   Alex   was   given   ten   acres   of   land   by   his   father   on   which   they   built   a   small   house   which   they   lacked   money   to   complete.   Then   Mrs. Miller   decided   she   would   return   to   writing.   No   fine   prose   or   poetry   for   her.   She   read   the   most   sensational   stuff   she   could   find   until   she   had   mastered the   cheap   style.   Her   first   "dime   novel",   actually   sold   for   15   cents,   was   Bride   of   the   Tomb.   The   first   editor   to   whom   she   sent   the   story   paid   her   $20.00 for   each   installment.   This   put   her   in   the   serial   story   business   and   soon   she   was   under   contract   to   three   weekly   papers:   New   York   Weekly,   New   York Family   Story   Paper,   and   New York   Fireside   Companion.   She   had   a   long   contract   with   New York   Fireside   Companion   for   $1,200.00   per   story   and   later $2,000.00.   She   wrote   three   novels   for   F.   M.   Lupton   Publications.   Some   of   her   poems   and   stories   appeared   in   The   Greenbrier   Independent.   Mrs. Miller liked poetry but there was not enough money in it. She   had   two   sons,   McVeigh   and   Lawrence,   and   all   three   of   the   children   were   graduated   from   West   Virginia   University   with   honors.   Money   was coming   in.   The   small   house   was   enlarged   and   a   beautiful   home,   The   Cedars,   was   built.   Mr.   Miller   took   charge   of   her   money   and   his   management was   not   always   wise.   Mrs.   Miller   achieved   her   goal   —   money.   She   and   her   husband   separated   and   never   lived   together   again.   She   and   her   daughter Irene, lived in Boston, and later in Washington for years after the separation. In   all,   Mrs. Alex   McVeigh   Miller   wrote   80   novels,   more   than   100   poems   and   numerous   short   stories.   In   the   West   Virginia   Department   of Archives   and History   a   shelf   about   five   feet   long   holds   her   work.   It   is   not   even   cataloged.   The   lurid,   sensational   stuff   is   not   literature   and   no   one   knew   it   better   than its   author   who   said   after   earning   almost   $100,000.00   with   her   pen,   "The   most   urgent   of   all   incentives   to   a   career   is   —   poverty."   Considering   the   time in which Mrs. Miller wrote, with no income tax to pay, she earned a large fortune. The most popular novel she wrote was The Senator's Bride. Ref: West Virginia Review, V. Vll, No. 2, April, 1930, p. 202, "A Weaver of Romances" by Ethel Clark Lewis. West Virginia Archives, Charleston
The contents contained in this series is copyrighted and the sole property of The Greenbrier Historical Society - Lewisburg, WV Used by permission - November 18, 2008
Main Index
The History of Alderson, West Virginia From The Journal Of The Greenbrier Historical Society On  Alderson, West Virginia Written by Kenneth D. Swope - Compiled and Transcribed by Barry Worrell
A   woman   who   probably   has   known   more   of   the   world's   great   over   a   longer   period   of   time   than   anyone   now   living   is Ada   Beatrice   Queen   Victoria   Louisa   Smith,   better   known   as   "Bricktop"   Smith.   She   was   born   in Alderson   and   spent here   childhood   here.      Her   step-father   operated   a   barber   shop   located   between   the   present   Methodist   Church   and the   old   Alderson   National   Bank   building,   and   the   Smith   family   lived   there. "Barber"   Smith   whose   first   name   is   not known   was   a   well-liked   hunch-backed   Negro.      His   wife,   Hattie,   an   expert   seamstress,   will   be   remembered   by   the older   generation   as   she   constantly   went   about   in   her   old   age   with   a   poodle   dog,   and   was   a   woman   of   unusual appearance.   According   to   local   information,   when   Barber   Smith   died   Mrs.   Smith   took   little   Ada   to   Chicago,      where Mrs.   Smith   opened   a   boarding   house   patronized   by   theatrical   clientele.   There   Ada,   or   "Bricktop"   as   she   was nicknamed, learned some entertainment lore. (Click on photo for larger view)