This biography from the jacket of my Grandfather's book "Folk Songs of the West Virginia Hills, published in 1976 by Seneca Books, gives a good synopsis of his career. The man I remember used to sing the funniest folk songs for his grandchildren, and scare the pants off of them with the stories which he published in his other book "Witches, Ghosts and Signs", also published by Seneca Books. He also recorded an album of folk music, the cover photo of which is shown below. I have digitized a tape of the album and I can provide CDs upon request, but I think some of my cousins had a clean copy of the album professionally remastered, and you'd be better off tracking them down.
My Grandmother Gainer was born in Poland, and her family immigrated in 1904. They owned a glass factory in West Virginia, which eventually burned down. She was her husband's biggest fan, the wind beneath his wings.