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Appalachian HistoryAppalachian HistoryFolktales, anecdotes and quotes drawn from Appalachia. Emphasis on the Depression era. Articles
No one will live there now: it is believed that the house is hainted
2011-10-31 06:00:00 This is the story of the hainted house down by Mrs. Grundy?s house. Well children, I?ll begin the evening of the quilting bee. When John and me was first married, the married women of the neighborhood all belonged to a club called the Quilting Bee. They met the first week after we?s married and invited ... You Might Also Like:She had enough faith in the nurses, that if she had the nurses she’d have a live baby More About: House , Live
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly podcast posts today
2011-10-30 06:00:00 We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today?s show with a walk through the first exhibition ... You Might Also Like:Listen Here: weekly Appalachian History podcast posts today More About: Podcast , Today , Weekly
You won?t let her rest in peace, fussing about her all the time
2011-10-28 07:00:00 Ellen Fridley was a central figure in the economic and cultural flowering of Big Ridge, VA during the 1910s and 1920s. An entrepreneur, she ran the Big Ridge Supply Company, lodged in a small building near her home, where mountain residents could buy gum, tobacco, groceries, clothes, kerosene, and other items. She often accepted butter, ... You Might Also Like:Haints and Hags on Halloween More About: Peace , Rest In Peace , Time , Rest
The three restless spirits of Sarah, Will, and Clem
2011-10-27 07:00:00 The city of Ringgold, GA sponsors tours of its train depot each Halloween based on ‘The Legend of the Haunted Depot:’ Clem and Will Jackson grew up in Ringgold doing all the things brothers did, swimming in the Chickamauga Creek, hunting in the woods, and generally enjoying the pleasures of young men in the Old ... You Might Also Like:I guess I will just have to talk Sarah into being willin’ More About: Spirits , Restless
Many stories of witchcraft were circulated and believed
2011-10-26 07:00:00 There was a notable character, a Mrs. Henagar, who had the reputation of being a witch. Her upper eye-lids were paralyzed and drooped over her eyes, giving her the appearance of being blind. Whenever she read her Bible she was obliged to stoop over it and hold the lids up with her hands. Then her ... You Might Also Like:No one will live there now: it is believed that the house is hainted More About: Stories , Witchcraft , Preston
The Devil provided Stingy Jack with a coal
2011-10-25 07:00:00 If you have ever tramped around the woods after dark, you may have noticed an erie glowing substance on the forest floor. This is the light from luminescent fungi—foxfire. One of the most common fungi responsible for foxfire is Clitocybe illudens, also known as the Jack ‘o Lantern mushroom. Makes complete sense that it would ... You Might Also Like:The Jack Tales. Not just beanstalks. More About: Coal , Devil
Gravely and his motor plow
2011-10-24 07:00:00 Dear Sir: During the past year, I have had occasion to discuss the business situation with practically every business man in the City of Charleston and suburbs. Our very limited number of productive enterprises and our crippled coal industries are not sufficient. The trade balance is against us. What is the remedy? There is but ... You Might Also Like:The world’s largest carbon factory More About: Motor
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly podcast posts today
2011-10-23 07:00:00 We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today?s show with the story of the Wizard Clip, ... You Might Also Like:Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly posts today More About: Podcast , Today
Death, witches and superstitions
2011-10-21 07:00:00 KY Death comes in threes in a congregation. A wild bird in the house means someone?s going to die. A dog howling three nights in a row means death is near. If you get shingles all around your body, you?ll die. If you sneeze, cover your mouth and say the Lord?s Prayer, or you?ll lose ... You Might Also Like:Some Appalachian superstitions More About: Halloween
He?d been known to escape houses through the keyhole
2011-10-20 07:00:00 “The celebrated mountain lands, of which Mark Twain writes in the Gilded Age, lie in Fentress County; and the picturesque village he describes under the name of Obedstown is none other than its county site. “The court-house, on the fence surrounding which the male population of the village were sitting, chewing tobacco and spitting at ... You Might Also Like:Defendant is amused at the plaintiff?s charges that he was not in love with her More About: Houses
Every woman in my place is bound to feel blue too
2011-10-19 07:00:00 Listen to Ida Cox sing “Any Woman ’s Blue s” Any Woman’s Blues My man ain’t acting right He stays out late at night But still he says he loves no one but me But if I find the gal That’s trying to steal my pal I’ll get her told, just you wait and see I feel ... You Might Also Like:Empress of the Blues More About: Place , Bound
When you get into your head to go sparking, go over the mountain
2011-10-18 07:00:00 Appalachian writer James Still (1906-2001) moved to Kentucky after he was grown, and stayed, finally living in Hindman but keeping his original cabin, located between the waters of Wolfpen Creek and Dead Mare Branch, on Little Carr Creek, where he wrote most of his books, poems, and articles. For 40 years Still gathered sayings from ... You Might Also Like:Hang down your head Tom Dula More About: Head
Let Sears, Roebuck & Co. be your architect
2011-10-17 07:00:00 A headline on page 594 of the 1908 Sears Catalog probably startled readers used to page after page of plows, obesity powders, sewing machines, and cook stoves. It announced: “$100 set of building plans free. Let us be your architect without cost to you.” From 1908?1940, Sears, Roebuck and Company sold roughly 75,000 homes nationwide ... You Might Also Like:Women, booze, dice and cards
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly podcast posts today
2011-10-16 07:00:00 We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today?s show with the odd tale of Montague and ... You Might Also Like:Listen Here: weekly Appalachian History podcast posts today More About: Podcast , Today , Weekly
Stalking game with his slingshot
2011-10-14 07:00:00 ?One of boyhood?s traditional toys has come of age. Jim Gasque, North Carolina sportsman, has proved that the ordinary slingshot, when properly made and used, can be an adult weapon of deadly accuracy at distances up to 30? — a range sufficient for stalking small game. He shoots regular No. 0 buckshot. “His slingshots are ... You Might Also Like:He treed the coons in the cliff More About: Game
WV teacher sells $50,000 of War Bonds, wins contest
2011-10-13 07:00:00 In October of 1951, 27 year-old Marjorie Ramsey of Logan, WV won a statewide US Defense Department Bond Selling Contest for schoolteachers. During the two-week contest, she sold $50,000 worth of defense bonds. The US government?s heavy spending on the Korean War (June 1950-July 1953) had set off a bout of inflation that neared 8 ... You Might Also Like:Bastardy Bonds More About: Teacher
A new home for the cabin of Mark Twain?s parents
2011-10-12 07:00:00 ?I had heard that Mark Twain ?s father and mother, John Clemens and his wife, had lived near the internationally famous Sgt. Alvin C. York, in the Pall Mall community of the Tennessee mountain county of Fentress,” says John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia. “It is a matter of factual history that John ... You Might Also Like:The cabin that became a cannery More About: Home , Parents
The elusive ?Peggy Apple? had a dark beginning
2011-10-11 07:00:00 You might think of him as a sort of Johnny Apple seed of our day. Tom Brown of Clemmons, NC became interested in finding and saving heritage, or heirloom, apples in 1999. He heads out to the backcountry of Appalachia regularly in search of remnant trees. His goal, via his group Applesearch, is to save these ... You Might Also Like:Shenandoah Valley Apple Blossom Festival time More About: Dark
How could he be a Republican?
2011-01-18 06:00:00 “The Republican Party can never become strong and deserving of support from the best men of the State until it is purged of people whose only purpose in being in the party is to secure offices. This office-grabbing, selfish class of Republicans has been the disgrace of the Republican Party of the South for years ... You Might Also Like:He wears the breeches but the lady has the brains
Uncle Nathe wuzn?t no hand to set at home by hissef
2011-01-17 06:00:00 “Am I to understand that our good brother was married four times?” “You shore air,” said Len. “There lays four of as good wives as a man ever had. Them tombstones don?t tell no lies. They?s all ?fore my time, savin? Aunt Lindy, his last ?un, but I?ve hearn enough to know what they wuz.” ... You Might Also Like:No use going inside because this was going to be the day he asked for Lula’s hand More About: Home , Hand
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly posts today
2011-01-16 06:00:00 We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today?s show with a look at the ?pearl rush? ... You Might Also Like:Listen Here: Appalachian History weekly posts today More About: Today , Weekly , Posts
Put the corpse in the barn till spring
2011-01-14 06:00:00 Prior to the funeral industry?s rise and its use of embalming, a practice that gained legitimacy during the War Between the States, the interior of a corpse was generally not accessible to prying eyes, hands, or medical equipment. Instead, the deceased was prepared – laid out – and remained in the home until burial. This ... You Might Also Like:We called ourselves barn massagers, walldogs or barn lizards More About: Spring , Barn
The Company Store at Ward, WV
2011-01-13 06:00:00 The following post ran yesterday at the White Oak Attic site. “I?m Lisa Isbell and I run the place. White Oak Attic is a blog about hobbies including genealogy, shabby chic decor and making a cozy homelife.” Reprinted here with permission. Kelly?s Creek Colliery, as I understand it, was the primary coal mining company in ... You Might Also Like:Company Store Scrip
A ?pearl rush? grips Clinch River residents
2011-01-12 06:00:00 ?From about 1895 to 1936 Tennessee was one of the nation’s six leading states in marketing pearls,? announces the historical marker on Market St. in Clinton, TN. ?Clinton was listed as one of three Tennessee towns known as centers of the pearling industry.? Clinton sits astride the Clinch River , which in the late 19th and ... You Might Also Like:They watched a house float down the river with a rooster on the rooftop More About: Rush
It?s winter. Engineers, to the dog house!
2011-01-11 06:00:00 During the early decades of the 20th century, hundreds of short-line railroad existed across the nation, and most all were regarded by the local people as their railroad. There was something appealing about the character of a little railroad that was trying to compete with the big lines, and usually the short line’s tiny locomotives ... You Might Also Like:Women, booze, dice and cards More About: House , Winter , Engineers
Me & Bessie went out hunting any ole time
2011-01-10 06:00:00 I was borned right here in these mountains, and since I was a boy I’ve knowed ever trail within twenty-five mile. My pappy were a gunsmith afore me and he teached me the trade. Pappy were the best gunsmith in four counties, and I wouldn’t swap one of them ole muzzle-loaders fer all the britch-Ioading ... You Might Also Like:Squirrel hunting season gets under way More About: Time
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly posts today
2011-01-09 17:08:00 We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today?s show with the story of a company whose ... You Might Also Like:Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly posts today More About: Today , Posts
They would put up a quilt
2011-01-07 06:50:00 “The ladies would cook dinner, and maybe five or six of them would quilt. They would put up a quilt. I can’t remember doing any of that, but I’ve heard, you know, my family talk about it, and then, maybe, they’d eat lunch and then a lot of them would stay for supper, and maybe ... You Might Also Like:A body can take comfort in layin’ herself out on the quiltin’ of patch quilt More About: Quilt
George W. Christians, American fascist
2011-01-06 06:00:00 It is the privileged role of the Art Smiths, the William Pelleys, and the George Christians to lay only the cornerstone of fascism. It is in their rudimentary organizations that the petty bourgeoisie receives its first elementary schooling in dictatorship. It is from the Smiths and the Pelleys that it learns to scrap its democratic ... You Might Also Like:Alarmed by the American Plutocracy More About: George W
With their heads together as lovin? as two little kittens
More articles from this author:2011-01-05 06:00:00 Major crime remained very rare in Noble County [OH], and the occasional exceptions made big news. One of the county?s more baffling murder cases began on November 5, 1905, when the family of William Leisure returned to their Carlisle home from Sunday church services and found Leisure sitting fatally wounded in his chair with two ... You Might Also Like:Religious persecution, well oiled More About: Kittens 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |



