Shaped Notes

You musicians in the family, have you ever heard of shaped notes?
I had never heard of them till cousin Betty Ruth, Uncle Everett's daughter told me that they often gathered around the piano and sang from their hymnal composed of songs with shaped notes. The notes would have triangles, squares, circles or whatever shape was designated for that note. Even though Betty Ruth went on to teach music in high school she said she wasn't that good on the piano at the time. I also have fond memories of the few times we gathered around the piano and sang hymns to my mother or older brother trying to pick out a few notes to keep us on key. It was a spiritual experience to me. After looking on the Internet I found pictures of the shaped notes. Particularly the Church of Christ which originally didn't use musical instruments but sang acapella used the shaped notes. Some Baptist congregations also used them. Our Doak ancestors were originally from the Church of Christ. Before his mission my son Craig and I visited the graveyard at Deep Valley West Virginia where many of our Doak ancestors are buried and also helped build the church. The neighbor who lived by the church mentioned it as a matter of some disagreement that they were now using instrumental accompaniment with their singing. The Church of Christ are very strict in following the New Testament and didn't note any musical instruments used in the services. The New Testament is such a wonderful book but it was sad to learn that they did not use the Old Testament at all. I personally would hate to miss the great stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, Abraham and the 12 tribes of Israel, Daniel in the Lion's Den, Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego to mention a few. To me it is an important part of history and great examples of God's watchful care to the faithful which still applies today.

Sylvia's name was really Sylva

While talking to Betty Ruth, Uncle Everett's oldest daughter, she let me know that Grandma Sylvia's name was really Sylva. She said Uncle Everett always corrected her when she called her Sylvia. It is Sylva. It seems there was a song about Sylvia. Perhaps she liked Sylvia better or it was easier to go by Sylvia. If anyone wants to send for her birth certificate in Sisterville, Tyler County, West Virginia it could be verified she is Sylva.

Pictures of Uncle Everett Thanks to James Wells and Greg Meacham

Ernest Everett Doak

I will try to feature a different child of Alexander Arthur and his wives Emma Elizabeth and Virginia Doak. We have seen some of Sylvia's family so now hopefully we can get some of Everett and Mary's children. I didn't have success with the pictures Greg sent me but eventually will get them. They were in zip file and perhaps that had something to do with it. I'll go ahead and tell you what I know about Uncle Everett. I was so happy to find this out from his daughter's. Any other posts about him or Mary his wife or anyone else in the family will be most welcome during this time.

Uncle Everett was born on May 12, 1896 in Tyler County West Virginia. He loved music and was a very good singer. He sang on the first and only radio station in the world at that time. He sang in a quartet. I'll try to find out the name of the songs he sang. His daughter remembers the limousine coming to pick him up. He wanted to make a career out of singing but that didn't work out. He loved listening to opera and a daughter recalls him resting on the couch every Saturday afternoon as he listened to opera. His one great granddaughter inherited his love for opera. If you will google on Carolyn Betty you can see her. He has many other equally special grandchildren and great grandchildren with other great talents that perhaps are just not as obvious. Now back to Uncle Everett. He became a Chiropractor but couldn't bring himself to collect from his patients who owed him money. He decided to teach at a chiropractor school instead of practicing himself. He also trained for the ministry I believe. He helped renovate the Historical Wells hotel with Uncle Arthur his younger brother. They made it into a very nice hotel and got it on the National Historical registry. They also had a restaurant which the children all helped with.