Luke and Kate attend night school. Luke accuses Kate of thinking she is smarter than him. The two have an argument, and stop speaking to each other. In order to save their marriage, Grandpa tries to get Kate to quit studying.
An eccentric area hermit furtively exchanges miscellaneous items for his subsistence but, when he trades for McCoy assets, Amos has him arrested for theft but is regretful when a hearing to put the man under state supervision ensues.
When the gossip-monger postman , who has witnessed George McMichael's will, lets it slip that Luke's family benefits substantially, Luke, Kate and the children engage in excessively fawning behavior toward George to the disgust of Amos.
Deprived city boy, Pete, arrives on the farm and uses his urban smarts to get the McCoys to do his assigned chores for him. A good lesson is learned by all.
Amos is not thrilled that Luke offers the McCoy barn for a Grange fund raising play but Amos' resistance softens when he learns Fay Wray will join the production but then becomes envious of George's lead opposite the actress.
Grandpa, Luke, and Kate return to Smoky Corners for Great Grandma McCoy's 100th birthday, but worry that their modest keepsake gifts don't measure up to those given by the newly-prosperous McCoys who remained in West Virginia.
While still visiting relatives in West Virginia, Grampa is reintroduced to an old flame, who he remembers well - but she doesn't seem to remember him, at all.