Notes from Richard Smith:
Gertrude belonged to the Moose Lodge and the Eastern Star (Shrine) both of which were in Wheeling, WV. She liked to crochet and play bingo and belonged to a bunco club. She and Norman, her second husband, founded Long's Trailer Court in 1945. There was an article in the early 1950's which gave the history of Long's Trailer Court. Norman started the business because there were so many soldiers returning from the war who were beginning families and no housing was available. He saw this as a solution to the problem. He and Gertrude ran the business until their deaths; Margaret Ann Smith, daughter, continued to operate the business. Gertrude worked for the WPA food line during the Great Depression. It was during this time that she had to live on a houseboat with her four children. She wall-papered the house boat with newspapers to keep it warm and clean. John and Gay, her sons, used to jump on the coal trains and throw coal down so that they could have heat in the winter. Daughter Margaret remembers standing in line at the Wheeling Hospital for food left that day after serving the patients. Gertrude reared her four children alone when her first marriage dissolved. She attended First Christian Church in Wheeling and later changed to Chapline Street Methodist Church (now called Aldersgate United Methodist Church). She talked about how she had burned flour to make gravy to put over bread for dinners.
In their later years, Norman and Gertrude traveled (Winnebago motor home) to California, Mexico, and Florida. Her favorite saying was "It's no sin to be poor, but it is a sin to be dirty." She once told a story about her childhood in Glen Easton. Her mother took the horse and buggy to town and left her alone on the farm. She was so angry, she started to chant... "Come, devil. come!" She said she saw a ball of fire appear in the middle of the living room floor. It scared her so badly that she ran out of the house and stayed there until her mother came home. She married young and lived in Sistersville until she needed to raise her children alone. I believe her sister Hattie helped her and that is why they moved to Wheeling, WV. Before
Grandmother died, my sister Jackie said to her, "Grandmother, when you die will you come back to us..(spirit)?" Grandmother said, "If I could, I will." She never did come back.
She deserves the quiet rest.



Obituary from Richard Smith:
“Long, Mrs. Gertrude Rawson, 67, of 600 Bow St. died Thursday at 3:30 A.M. at Ohio Valley General Hospital. She was born in Glen Easton, W.Va., Feb. 12, 1904, daughter of Thomas and Hulda Grimm Rawson. She was a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church; Eastern Star; W.B.A. Review No. 38; The Sisterhood of the Dames of Malta; Senior Citizens Club. Surviving are her husband, Norman; two daughters, Mrs Margaret Smith, Wheeling; Mrs. Francis Bosold, Newcomerstown, Ohio; two sons, John E. and Gay H. Smith, both of Wheeling; two sisters, Mrs. Essie Martin, Mrs. Hattie Jackson, both of West Hollywood, Fla.; two brothers, Tom Rawson, New Martinsville; Everett Rawson, Pasadena, Calif.; eight grandchildren; five great grandchildren. Two brothers and a sister preceded her in death. Friends may call at Altmeyer Funeral Home, 1400 Eoff St. Friday 2-4, 7-9. Services Saturday at 2 P.M. at Aldersgate United Methodist Church with the Rev. Charles Paskel officiating. Interment in Park View Memorial Gardens, Wheeling.”