STRATTON -- The Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society lecture series at the Stratton Municipal Building, 136 Second Ave., Stratton, will feature speaker Angela Feenerty, president of the Mount Pleasant Historical Society, on June 26 at 1 p.m.
Feenerty's lecture title is, "The Enduring History of the Cattell Family and the Free Labor Store." The program is free and open to the public.
Membership information will be available as well as refreshments.
Cornelia Cattell's ancestors were of the Quaker faith and upheld the passions of Mount Pleasant's citizens to aid slaves escaping from nearby Virginia, now West Virginia. In Mount Pleasant, her grandfather was associated with the Free Labor Store. Cornelia Cattell Thompson (1898-1982), a top student in her 1917 Mount Union College class, taught school for a few years.
In 1924, she married country doctor Jay Ira Thompson (1891-1955) of Smithfield.
Cornelia, a prolific writer, authored children's books, articles, and kept meticulous notes on Dr. Thompson's daily profession and her role as his wife and frequent assistant. Her treasured manuscript collection was gifted to the Mount Pleasant Historical Society.
Feenerty's lecture relates the stories of Cornelia Cattell Thompson, which are from the 1920s and 1930s and are filled with humor, compassion and Dr. Thompson's dedication as the only doctor in the Smithfield area. From Cornelia's manuscript collection, Feenerty edited the book, "The Country Doctor's Wife."
Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the lecture.
Feenerty, a native of Kentucky, has lived near Martins Ferry since the 1970s.
As many family and local historians note, Feenerty said she developed an innate interest in history and the stories her family and ancestors told of their westward movement through the mountains into Kentucky.