By Shirley Shuman
On October 16, G. Russell Rollyson, Deputy Commissioner of the WV State Auditor’s office, oversaw the Braxton County land sale. This was the last land sale he will do as he will retire December 1, 2024. Rollyson explained that he had planned the Braxton land sale to be his last because of his family ties to Braxton County.
He said that his grandfather, Russell N. Rollyson, had served as Sheriff of Braxton County and was sheriff when Holly Griffith mortally wounded Gassaway Police Chief Ord Thompson. A story in the February 12, 2006, issue of the Braxton Citizens’ News reported that Sheriff Rollyson organized a posse to hunt down Griffith following his shooting Chief Thompson.
Rollyson’s father grew up in Braxton County, and when his grandfather was sheriff, they actually lived over the jail. “One story Dad told us was that he used to stand at the window and throw water on the prisoners as they were brought in or out of the jail. Dad attended Sutton High School and played basketball there. After he left high school, he was in the military. When he returned, he attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and earned a degree. Then, he obtained a job in Charleston, where he raised his family. Rollyson said that although his father and family did not reside in Braxton County, they did visit frequently, and he remembers many of those visits. “We often visited our relatives in Braxton County, and, although my grandfather died before I was born and I can’t remember visiting my grandmother, I do remember visiting other relatives often,” he commented.
“My grandmother remarried after my grandfather died. After her death, we always visited her second husband, Lee Simmons when we were in Braxton County and sometimes took him to the Sutton Cemetery where she was buried when we visited that cemetery,” he explained. “Actually, my grandmother’s funeral was the first funeral I attended.”
“I always enjoyed visiting in Braxton and especially liked visiting my Aunt Alice Rollyson and Aunt Kate Gatewood along with their brother Willard Hall and his son Willard Lee. They lived in Frametown. Aunt Alice used to take me to see her chicken coop, and I really liked that. Something else I enjoyed while visiting them was fishing in the Elk River with Willard Lee,” he added.
Rollyson himself attended Morris Harvey College for his undergraduate degree and followed that with an MA in public administration. He began working in the state auditor’s office in 1981 and has worked primarily in collecting real estate taxes and conducting land sales. “I’ve signed more deeds than anyone else in the state of West Virginia,” he said.
There may be no one left in Braxton County for G. Russell Rollyson to visit after his retirement, but he said, “I will always come back to Braxton.” This man will always have fond memories of the area, and more importantly, of the people he knew and loved.