HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 81

(By Delegate Talbott)

Requesting County Route 26, beginning from the intersection with State Route 15 then proceeding through 26/1 to the Randolph County line, be named the “Eli ‘Rimfire’ Hamrick Trail.”

    Whereas, Eli “Rimfire” Hamrick was born in Webster County on March 28, 1868, and died in his native county on April 1, 1954, and his actions, love for the mountain ways and devotion to wildlife made him admired as a humble son of the hills and a legendary figure in Webster County; and

    Whereas, In 1913, Eli “Rimfire” Hamrick was employed as a yard-man at the Webster Springs Hotel by owner, John T. McGraw, a Democratic National Committeeman and rigorous political figure of the day, and “Rimfire” had the task of preparing the chickens for meals at the hotel and was asked by hotel manager, James Wooddell, how he killed the chickens. Eli Hamrick answered the hotel manager’s question by stating “with my Rimfire Rifle, by God,” and was thereafter known as “Rimfire”. “Rimfire” was an expert in word lore and a tenderhearted man who loved wildflowers and animals. “Rimfire” opened a jewelry, watch repair and gun shop in the Town of Addison (Webster Springs) in 1910 and at times also worked as a game warden, look-out tower keeper, fire warden and handyman. “Rimfire” married at age 52 and spent his honeymoon at the Turkey Creek Fire Tower, where he was employed as a keeper at the time; and

    Whereas, 1924 presidential candidate, John W. Davis, asked “Who was ‘Rimfire’ to have had the face as sad as Lincoln’s?” The six-foot three-inch mountaineer was a true son of the hills, posed for the statues of the Mountaineer in Charleston, located on the East Lawn of the Capitol and also in Washington, D.C. and was named the “Typical Mountaineer”. In 1932, “Rimfire” took his first and only venture into politics running on the Republican ticket for the State Senate supported by West Virginians who believed they had a winner in the “Typical Mountaineer” who had won fame as the model for the statue at the West Virginia State Capitol and using the campaign slogan “You put me at the Capitol in bronze, now send me there in person”; and

    Whereas, In all that has been written and said of Eli “Rimfire” Hamrick, it is clear that he was a gentleman, and the story of the “honorable man of the hills” is a bit of West Virginia history worth preserving; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Division of Highways is hereby requested that County Route 26, beginning from the intersection with State Route 15 then proceeding through 26/1 to the Randolph County line, be named the “Eli ‘Rimfire’ Hamrick Trail”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Commissioner of the Division of Highways is hereby requested to cause to be fabricated signs to be erected at each entryway of the road, containing bold and prominent letters proclaiming the road to be named the “Eli ‘Rimfire’ Hamrick Trail”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways and the family of Eli ‘Rimfire’ Hamrick.