Lester William Thomas Virts
Born 24 Apr 1920 Lovettsville, Virginia [1]
Died 22 Oct 1993 Frederick, Maryland [2]
Buried Mount Olivet United Methodist Church Cemetery, Lovettsville, Virginia
Person ID I9 Virts
Father Oscar Franklin Virts, b. 9 Apr 1877, Loudoun County, Virginia , d. 3 Feb 1967, Lovettsville, Virginia
Mother Mary Catherine Mann, b. 10 Mar 1877, Loudoun County, Virginia , d. 10 Mar 1942, Lovettsville, Virginia
Married 1899 Frederick County, Maryland
Family ID F1 Group Sheet
Family Lillie Mae Hackley, b. 31 Jul 1922, Loudoun Heights, Virginia , d. 6 Jan 1973, Leesburg, Virginia
Married 24 Feb 1944 Loudoun County, Virginia
Lester William Thomas Virts and Lillie Mae Hackley
Lester was born April 24, 1920 in Lovettsville, Virginia to Oscar Franklin and Mary Catherine Mann Virts. He died October 22, 1993 in Frederick, Maryland. He married Lille Mae Hackley on February 24, 1944. She was born July 31, 1922 in Loudoun Heights, Virginia to Robert and Rose Belle Speaks Hackley. She died January 6, 1973 in Leesburg, Virginia. Both are buried in the Cemetery at the Mt. Olivet Methodist Church in Lovettsville.
Photo courtesy of Raymond E. Virts Family
Mary Catherine Mann, Lester William Thomas Virts and Oscar Franklin Virts
A Virts Country Butchering
The hog has been scaled in the trough and here (left to right foreground) Russell James Virts, James Green and Lester William Thomas Virts are scrapping off the hair with hog scrappers.
Elmer Swartz stirring the Poudin, Raymond Eugene Virts, Lester William Thomas Virts, Clarence Lanham, Benton Stone stirring Ponhaus (scrapple) and Daniel Fleming.
James Marion Virts (1848-1933) Group Photo
Russell James Virts, William Michael Everhart, Sr., Harrison Riley, Theodore Roosevelt Virts, Milford Leonard Everhart, Leon Conner, James Marion Virts, Lester William Thomas Virts (little boy)
Lester William Thomas Virts (1920-1993) and Lillie Mae Hackley (1922-1973) Headstone
A Virts Country Butchering (14)
November was the time for butchering hogs. It has been a fall tradition in the Virts family for well over 100 years. The Raymond E. Virts family on the Long Lane in Lovettsville, Virginia always butchered on Thanksgiving day. You might consider the butchering day as a family reunion held several times each November as this even would bring together siblings, cousins and friends. There was always a friendly competition amongst Raymond's brothers to see who had the largest hog. It was not uncommon to have a hog have a dressed weight of over 400 pounds. Such a hog would produce over 40 pound hams that would be sugar cured. Most local families had a butchering and would usually slaughter form 2 - 14 hogs, depending on the size of the family. Butchering is nearly extinct today. You will only find a hand full of families that still carry on the tradition. Hardly anyone even knows how to do it anymore. I would have to say it is a dying art. Just click on the picture to see it enlarged and to get a description.
Oscar Franklin Virts and Mary Catherine Mann (17)
Frederick Post, October 23, 1993
Mr. Lester William Thomas, resident of Lovettsville nearly his entire life, died Friday, October 23 at Frederick Memorial Hospital. He was the husband of Lillie Hackley Virts, who died in 1973. Born April 24, 1920 at Lovettsville, he was a son of the late Oscar and Mary Virts. Surviving are a foster son, Joseph W. Jenkins of Lovettsville; two brothers, Theodore Virts and Russell Virts, both of Lovettsville; two sisters, Jessie Frye of Lovettsville, and Goldie Stone of Leesburg, Va. Mr. Virts was preceded in death by a brother, Raymond Virts. Interment was in the Mt. Olivet Methodist Cemetery, Lovettsville.
Lester worked on various dairy farms in the Philomont, Virginia area in his younger years. He later worked for Gallaham Excavating and later for the Virginia Department of Highways from which he retired. Lester moved away from Lovettsville in the 1940's after his marriage to Lillie Hackley. Lester and his family lived in Philomont and Purcellville, Virginia area until the mid 1970's. Lester and his wife did not have any children of their own but did raise for most his life Lillie's sister Alice Hackley Jenkins son Joseph Jenkins. He returned to Lovettsville in the mid 1970's after the death of his wife were he lived the rest of his life with his Joe and his family.
[S2730] Virginia, Birth Records, 1912-2014, Delayed Birth Records, 1854-1911.
[S207] The Frederick Post, October 23, 1993.