West Virginia Pioneers

Gordy Oshel Casto

Male 1895 - 1989  (93 years)


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  • Name Gordy Oshel Casto 
    Born 9 Oct 1895  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Died 11 Jan 1989  [3
    Notes 

    • U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
      Name: Gordie O Casto
      Race: White
      Marital status: Single
      Birth Date: 9 Oct 1895
      Birth Place: Ripley Dist
      Residence Place: Ripley, Jackson, West Virginia, USA
      Farmer, single, medium height, brown eyes, black hair, bad health
      June 5, 1917

      U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
      Name: Gordy Oshal Casto
      Gender: Male
      Residence Age: 47
      Birth Date: 9 Oct 1895
      Birth Place: Jackson, West Virginia, USA
      Residence Date: 1942
      Residence Place: Mason, Mason, West Virginia, USA
      Relationship to Draftee: Head
      Relative: Mary Casto
      Employer: Marietta Mfg Co, Point Pleasant, WV
      Military Draft Date: 1942
      5'5", 132 lbs, gray eyes, brown hair, light complexion, left leg crippled

      U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
      Name: Gordy Oshal Casto
      [Gordy O Casto]
      Birth Date: 9 Oct 1895
      Death Date: 11 Jan 1989
      Claim Date: 16 Feb 1961
      SSN: 233264810

      U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
      Name: Gordy Casto
      Birth Date: 9 Oct 1895
      Death Date: 11 Jan 1989
      Cause of Death: Natural
      SSN: 233264810
      Branch 1: ARMY
      Enlistment Date 1: 22 Jul 1918
      Release Date 1: 22 Jan 1919
    Person ID I21568  WVPioneers
    Last Modified 23 Jan 2020 

    Father Isaac Cornelius Casto,   b. 5 Oct 1867, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Nov 1963  (Age 96 years) 
    Mother Bridget Katherine Garrett,   b. Aug 1871, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1959  (Age ~ 87 years) 
    Married 8 Nov 1888  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Notes 

    • JCMR
      Casto, Iscca C 23 Jackson (Jackson CH)
      Garrett, Katie 17 Jackson (Jackson CH) d/o Harvey Garrett 11/8/1888

      1900 Ripley Dist, Jackson, WV # 164-168 [next to David & Mary]
      Isaac C, 10/1867, m 11y
      Katie, 8/1871, 5-3
      William C, 11/1889
      G Oshel, 10/1895
      Ruley, sn, 1/1898

      1910 Ripley, Jackson, WV # 256-260
      2 May 1910
      Casto, Isaac C 42 m1- 21y WV WV WV
      Kate 38 m1- 21y 7-5 children WV WV VA
      William C son 20
      Gordia son 14
      Ruby da 12
      Hersel son 9
      Fay son 7

      1920 Ripley, Jackson, WV # 90
      Casto, Isaac Cornelius 52
      Kate 48
      Gordy O son 24
      Ruby da 22
      Herchel son 19
      Fey son 16

      1930 Ripley, Jackson, WV # 203-204
      Casto, Isaac C 62 m age 21
      Kate 58 m age 17
      Darrel F son 27

      1940 ED 18-8, Ripley, Jackson, WV p 3B Bottom between Rt 5 and Cottageville Rd
      #49 owns $600 not farm
      Casto, Isaak C 72 WV Sidnayville, Jackson, WV
      Kate wife 68 Sidnayville, Jackson, WV

      JCBR:
      David Hersel, 10/10/1905, Isaac C & Katherine (Garrett) Casto, Ripley
      David Hersel, 10/10/1900, IC & Kate
      Gordy Oshel, 10/9/1895, IC & Kate (Garrett) Casto, Ripley, farmer, delayed bc

      JC cem book shows they were buried in Mt Calvary Cemetery and that Isaac died 1919. This is obviously incorrect since he was in the 1920/30 censuses.


      The Jackson Herald, Friday, November 14, 1959, page 11

      God Has Been Good To Us, Aged Couple Says

      Mr. and Mrs. I.C. Casto, of Ripley, celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary at their home on Second Avenue Saturday and realizing that couples privileged to mark that event are few and far between said that "God has been good to us."
      They were married on November 8, 1888 at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Garrett whose home stood where the Big R Supermarket is now located.
      Rev. Perry Fisher officiated at the simple ceremony. It was the first wedding he ever performed.
      In the 70 years that they have lived together, 69 of which have been spent in the immediate vicinity of Ripley, they have seen the town change from a country village of several hundred to a thriving modern town of nearly four thousand people.
      "We have lived a mighty happy life" Mrs. Casto recalled remembering the days of her youth. She was a bride at 17. "At 17 I was a woman," she said, "and doing a woman's work and thought I could keep house."
      Her husband was just 21 and full of "vinegar and vigor" when he took his bride home in a wagon. They worked hard for life was not as easy then as it is now. But toiling together, they both agree, brought them closer together in mind and spirit.
      The newlyweds set up housekeeping immediately. They built a small frame house on land belonging to the groom's father, David Casto. The Casto farm was located in the bottom land wheich has since been developed into the Cedar Lakes Camp.
      Mr. and Mrs. Casto have lived their entire lives in the vicinity of Ripley except for one year during which they lived in Roane County. They rarely traveled. The farthest either has been from home was a trip Mr. casto took to Elkins to attend an Odd Fellows meeting.
      "When we were married," Mr. Casto mused, "Ripley was just a country village. There were dirt streets and just a few stores but quite a few homes. In those days a person would know everyone in town."
      Both Mr. and Mrs. Casto recall that when they were married, was during the first administration of President Grover Cleveland. They recall that the streets were lighted at night with small oil burning lamps on short posts. There were about five of them in town.
      There were two churches in town when the Castos were married. The structure which is now known as St. John's Episcopalian is the only one which remains intact. The other church was the Baptist church occupying a building on the site of the present Baptist church.
      The most popular corner in town was Main and Church streets which in 1888 was commonly called the "candy corner" from the days when a small candy shop was situated there. Eventually, they remember, Enoch Staats built the first Bank of Ripley on that same locatioin.
      After 70 years of living happily together, Mr. and Mrs. Casto still look after one another. For the past 20 months Mrs. Casto has been kept close to her bed but she still reads the paper without the aid of glasses, has a keen mind and dark eyes which constantly flash with a zest for living. Mr. Casto has a touch of palsy to which he refers with a hint of humor.
      Mr. Casto through the years has been an active worker in his political party and Mrs. Casto has encouraged him right along. They claim never to have had a fight during the entiere 70 years of their married life. Mr. Casto says that he thinks that he registered the first woman to vote in Jackson County.
      The Castos became the parents of seven children, five of whom grew to adulthood. Of the five, four are still living: Willie Casto of Clay Lick, Hershel Casto of Sandyville, Oshel Casto of Arizona, and Ruby Dutee of Devil's Lake, N.D. They have 11 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
      When asked the inevitable question as to what they owe their long and happy marriage,. Mr. Casto replied that it was hard to judge unless "it was hard work, clean living and going to church because that's the way we have spent our lives."
      With a twinkle in her yey, Mrs. Casto looked at her husband of 70 years and said "other than living a clean life, never touching whiskey and attneding the EUB church, one reason for our happy marriage is that we always voted the Republican ticket."
    Family ID F6876  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary K Maxwell,   b. Abt 1895, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1973, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 78 years) 
    Married 22 Apr 1921  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Notes 

    • Marriage Record
      Date: 22 Apr 1921 at Ripley
      Place: Jackson, West Virginia, United States
      Gordy O Casto, 25; Jackson Co, WV; Ripley, WV
      Mary K Maxwell, 25; Jackson Co, WV; Ripley, WV

      1930 Union, Jackson, WV # 271-276 State Route 5
      Casto, Gordie A/O 34 m age 25 WVWVWV
      Mary K 34 m age 25 WVWVWV
      Reba M son 7 WVWVWV
      Gordon M son 3.2 WVWVWV
      Charles F son 1.1 WVWVWV
    Children 
     1. Reba May Casto
     2. Gordon Max Casto
     3. Charles Ivan Casto,   b. 7 Mar 1929, Kanawha County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 8 Dec 2002  (Age 73 years)
     4. Margaret Deloris Casto
     5. Denzil Isaac Casto
    Family ID F15285  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Sources 
    1. [S1205] Census.

    2. [S3] Birth Records, Jackson Co, WV.

    3. [S1050] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.

    4. [S17] Marriage Records, Jackson Co, WV.