By Bob Weaver July, 2024
Norma Knotts Shaffer has died at the age of 86 at the home of her daughter in the eastern panhandle of WV.
Beyond any doubt she was the most consummate historian from Calhoun County, a descendant of Calhoun Originals - the Knott's Family which sprung from the southern part of the county.
Her father Robert J. Knotts proceeded her as an exemplary historian, a huge body of his work which rests in the Calhoun County Library. An indication of her history gene was receiving a Golden Horseshoe as a student, and continuing to spend the rest of her life recording, writing about, publishing and collecting historic photographs.
Her dozens of meticulously created historic photo albums have been donated to the Calhoun Historical Society.
She was a Registered Nurse.
Norma returned to Grantsville in the 1990s and opened her historical center, purchasing the old A&P Store building, where she welcomed hundreds of people of place, then starting a web page.
She published 100s of stories, many of them on the Hur Herald, and embarked on a project to publish a hard copy book of Col. C. S. Deweese's "Recollections of a Lifetime," selling several hundred copies. She created "Photo of the Day," a series of historic pictures depicting life in Calhoun, now on the archives.
She initiated a project on the history of black families in Calhoun, and I continued to contribute to it for many years. It is the only written history of those families.
Norma was the co-editor of the Hur Herald, a online publication which has lasted 28 years.
Norma joined our small team to put the Herald together, burning the midnight oil, talking with her everyday for 25 years.
Perhaps my most treasured time was roving aimlessly around the county, visiting old cemeteries and sites.
Words cannot justify my experiences with her.
She can now go to rest high on a Calhoun mountain.
Memorial services set Saturday, July 27, at Stump Funeral Home, Grantsville, at noon.
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