Virginia Lee (Ginny) Bagnell 1945

November 9, 2006

I met with Ginny Bagnell to obtain information on her growing up in Crittenden, and to get the history of the local oyster businesses and marine railways.  This is follow up interview to one conducted by Jean Hodges (see attached).  I met with Ginny at the Ebenezer Methodist Church’s Senior Citizen’s Center on November 9, 2006.  One of the ladies present was Rheva Gray Stilley-Reed, who I had previously interviewed.  Rheva assisted Ginny with some of my questions and in identifying people in the 2007 C.E. & H. Heritage Foundation Calendar. by Les Ward

GROWING UP IN CRITTENDEN

Ginny was born Virginia Lee Bagnell (Ginny) in 1945 at the old Buxton Hospital in Newport News Virginia. Rheva Gray was one of the nurses. Her mother was Anne Everett Bagnell from Driver, Virginia and her father was Edward Carl Bagnell, who was born and raised in ___.  Ginny’s maternal grandmother was Miss Louise Everett from ____________ Virginia and maternal grandfather was Elisha Lee Everett from _____________.  Ginny’s paternal grandmother was Shirley _________ Bagnell from _________, and her paternal grandfather was Captain Edward (Ed) Bagnell Ginny did not know either her maternal or paternal grandparents.  Ginny had one older brother E. Everett Bagnell, who was eight years older than Ginny.  Ginny worked for Chesapeake Public School and later for Newport News Shipbuilding for ___________, retiring in __________. 

  The Bagnell family home is located next to the C.E. & H. Ruritan Community Building on Eclipse Drive, Ginny has lived there almost her entire life.  In fact,  Ginny said that she was a student at the Chuckatuck School when her mother taught there. Ginny played sports and was on the Girls Basketball team. She graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1963.

Ginny remembers her father worked in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard when she was very young.  Also, her mother drove the Navy Yard bus from this area and worked ____________________.  Carl Bagnell later started working in the river and started the Adams Oyster Company with Charles Gray Adams.  Anne Everett Bagnell in the Crittenden School and later in the Chuckatuck School. Many area residents can claim that they had “Miss Anne” as their teacher.

I asked Ginny about her love for sour pickles and about an incident that occurred on the school bus one day where Ginny almost got sick eating a sour pickle.  She told me that she didn’t remember this, but added that she often walked to Moger’s service station (later Keeling’s) to get her pickles.  She added that the procedure was to first get a snow cone (shaved ice with syrup) and then a sour pickle, which she would dip into the snow cone before eating.  What a combination.  She said that she was six or seven years old at the time.

Ginny’s friends while growing up in the Crittenden, Eclipse and Hobson areas were: Gloria Hazelwood, Linda Davidson, Wes Stilley, Aubrey Stilley, Olivia Hazelwood, Marilyn Beale, Judy Corson, and her cousins, Bob and Terry Bagnell.

Water Ski Club- Ginny belonged to a water ski club that had a ramp up the creek near Cotton Farm Lane in the 1950s. The group performed locally and even did a little traveling.

Ice Skating- When local farm pond’s froze over the fun began. Kids shared ice skates and skated on the pond by Boosey Madre’s house at Bleakhorn and even on the Newman Farm off Crittenden Road.

Goat Lot- Ginny had a couple of goats that grazed in her back yard. To this day she refers to be back of her yard as the “goat lot.”

OYSTER COMPANIES:

Adams Oyster Company:

The Adams Oyster Company was located at the end of Moore’s Point Road before the Chuckatuck Creek Bridge was built.  It was owned and operated by the Captain Charlie Adams’s family.

Nansemond Fish and Oyster Company:

Located at the mouth of Bleakhorn Creek, this company was owned and operated by Charlie Bagnell and Selby (Boosey) Madre.  It opened in ________ and operated until _________, when When her uncle, Charlie Bagnell began working for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. it moved locations to the Chuckatuck Creek near the Chuckatuck Creek Bridge (site of current Volvo plant).  The company bought oysters from local watermen, shucking and shipping them to markets in Norfolk.

Nansemond – Adams Oyster Company:

Located on Chuckatuck Creek near the Chuckatuck Creek Bridge (site of current Volvo plant), Charles Gray Adams, Boosey Madre, and Carl Bagnell, Ginny’s father, operated this oyster business from ________. .  In addition to buying oysters from local watermen and shucking and shipping them to market in Norfolk, Carl Bagnell also ran a steamed crab business at the location.  Ginny and her mother, Anne Everett Bagnell, helped with the crab business until Carl Bagnell died in 1962.

Charles Gray Adams also operated a marine railway at this location during the same time.  Charles Gray and his employees would pull boats up on the railway and boat owners would do the scraping and painting of their own boats.

The Nansemond – Adams Oyster Company remained in operation until the early 1970s, when oysters began dying off in local waters and this industry dried up.

3.      MARINE RAILWAYS:

a.      Ginny didn’t know the history of any of the many marine railways that dotted the Chuckatuck Creek in the past.  The only one she was award of was operated by Charles Gray Adams at the Adams Oyster Company (see above).

HISTORY OF THE AREA:

1.       

PICTURES:

Ginny did not have any pictures of her growing up or of the local area.

I showed Ginny and Rheva Gray Stilly-Reed the 2007 C.E. & H. Heritage Foundation Calendar and asked them to help identify people in both the August and October pictures.  They provided the following names.

1.     AUGUST:

a.     Left picture: Unknown girl, Frances Atkinson, Rheva Gray, Ruth Hunt, Millie Bagnell, Lois Adams, and Margarett Hunt.

b.     Bottom right picture: Unknown boy, Tommy Martin, Unknown boy, Jackie Moore and Sommers Mertig.

2.     OCTOBER:

a.     Top right picture: Edward Carl Bagnell.