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'Margie' Ferry and her Model A Ford

She was a simple woman who led a simple life in what would be by today’s standards considered a shanty at the base of Lock Mountain, Piney Creek Road.

Yet mention of her name, Marjorie Gertrude Ferry, brings pleasant memories to many Martinsburg area residents.

Known by everyone as Margie, she lived off the land, ignored the copperhead snakes in her spring house and could cook a young ground hog to make it taste as good as chicken.

But the thing she may be best remembered for was the 1929 Model A Ford she drove to town, only when absolutely necessary, to buy the barest of life’s essentials.

These trips to Martinsburg often included purchase of chicken feed, sacks that she tied across the front fender of her car before heading down the road to the same house where she was born on March 25, 1905.

“She was a very smart lady. She churned her own butter, she had eggs she sold. The first time I ate groundhog she cooked it and it tasted like chicken,” Ernie Kensinger of Martinsburg said this week.

And when it came to the spring where she drew all of her water and kept perishable food during warm months, the snakes, who likewise tried to beat the heat, had no impact on her.

“It didn’t bother her, she would dip out her water and just ignore them,” Kensinger said of the copperheads usually present in the spring house.

Margie was one of three children born to Jobe and Elizabeth Ferry on the homestead located at the base of Lock Mountain about midway between Martinsburg and Williamsburg.

A visit to Margie’s required a drive through a stream, something that had been know to keep Margie at home and others away when the water was too high.

Brother Clarence died in 1958 and Margie and second brother Hoster, better known as “Hoss,” lived on the 37-acre homestead and tiny wooden house until late in life.

Hoster died in 2001 at the age of 98 and Margie died on May 6, 2008, at the age of 103.

While her passing occurred with running water, electric lights and central heating in her room at the Village at Morrisons Cove, Margie chose to live most of her time without modern conveniences.

It wasn’t a simple life following any type of religious beliefs but rather a philosophy that the homesteader house and lack of conveniences was good enough for her parents, so it was good enough for her and Hoster.

Along with limited livestock on the homestead Margie and Hoster depended heavily in the vegetable garden they tended every summer and picked berries from the wild bushes growing along the ridge.

Hunters in the area also kept them in mind with regular gifts of venison.

While the simple life of the Ferrys was known to most, it was Margie and her car, which drew attention.

Her shopping for essentials was done at Wineland’s IGA and one elderly Martinsburg area man, who asked not to be named, said he remembers well watching her pull up to the grocery store.

“She always carried a brick with her and she pulled up in front of the store, jumped out and put the brick under one of the front tires to keep the car from rolling off,” he said.

The car was purchased in 1950 by Margie for $175 and she kept it on the road until she turned 88 and decided to stop driving, acquaintances said Monday.

She eventually sold the classic auto to John H. Bush of Martinsburg,

Butch Rhodes who operates Rhodes Body Shop, Agway Road, Martinsburg, got to know the old car pretty well.

“I did the body and paint work on it,” Rhodes said of the work done after Bush purchased the car.

Fact is, it looked so good Bush drove it in the Martinsburg agricultural parade. He talked Margie into accompanying him, something she said she likely would not do again. The four-hour parade just made her feel awfully tired, she told people at the time.

Margie’s mild manner and independent attitude helped in drawing neighbors and friends to her door offering help.

Rodney Kensinger and his brother Ernie along with others for several years made sure Margie had enough firewood to get her through the winter.

“On Saturdays, my sons and I would cut wood for her. We’d take it up and stack it up and by the time we’d come back with another load, she have cookies made for us,” Rodney said.

Margie had about a half dozen cats keeping her company.

“We had to make sure the cookies didn’t have cat hair on them,” he said.

Margie depended on her cook stove to prepare meals and for heat and a kerosene lamp provided light after dark.

She eventually gave in and purchased a flashlight and had a transistor radio.

Margie regularly listened to WJSM Radio of Martinsburg, a source she used to stay current on news.

She held her own political views and she made sure she regularly voted, Rodney said.

“She wasn’t a recluse,” he said.

A couple years before her death, a neighbor went to visit and found her extremely sick, he said.

Some financial assistance was found and she was moved to the Village at Morrisons Cove where she stayed until her death.

Margie’s obituary lists her as formerly of Williamsburg RR 2 and she was born in Huston Township.

At the time of her death she was survived by a nephew Billy Ferry of Tyrone and several nephews.

She was a member of the Smithfield Church of the Brethren, Martinsburg.

 

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