AN ANCHOR BOOKS ORIGINAL, SEPTEMBER 2011
Copyright © 2011 by The Foxfire Fund, Inc.
Cover Design by Cardon Webb Cover images: washboard © Bettmann/Corbis
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Some of the material in this work was originally published in slightly different form in Foxfire Magazine.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc. for permission to reprint “Hello in There” words and music by John Prine, copyright © 1970, copyright renewed by Walden Music, Inc. and Sour Grapes Music, Inc. All rights administered by Walden Music, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc.
The Foxfire Fund, Inc.
PO Box 541
Mountain City, GA 30562-0541
706-746-5828
www.foxfire.org
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Foxfire 45th anniversary book : singin’, praisin’, raisin’ / edited by
Joyce Green, Casi Best, and Foxfire Students.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-74487-6
1. Appalachian Region—Social life and customs. 2. Folklore—Appalachian Region. 3. Appalachian Region—Biography. I. Green, Joyce, 1940–II. Best, Casi, 1991–III. Foxfire magazine.
F106.F695 2011
974—dc22
2011007737
www.anchorbooks.com
v3.1
Only Gone from Our Sight
Words and Music by Reagan Riddle, Recorded by The Primitive Quartet
God calls loved ones home, yet our pain He can feel,
He always knows best, He can comfort and heal.
Remember, my friend, weeping lasts for the night,
We’ll see them again; they’re only gone from our sight.
Only gone from our sight to the beauties of Heaven,
Only gone from our sight to a city so bright,
Where the flowers of God are blooming forever,
Keep looking beyond; they’re only gone from our sight.
This book is dedicated to the memories of
Robert Murray, Foxfire curator extraordinaire,
and Marie Carter, gift shop comanager,
who are only gone from our sight.
Acknowledgments
Over a period of six months, a group of dedicated individuals have worked earnestly to see The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book come to fruition, and so many people have contributed ideas, time, knowledge, and information toward the finished project. We would like to sincerely thank present and past students of Rabun County High School for much of the content you will read through the sections of this book. Due to his love of gospel music, we would also like to dedicate the music section to Mr. Mark Earnest, Rabun County High School principal, and thank him for his commitment to and support of the Foxfire program. We would especially like to thank students Brittany Houck, Alyssa LaManna, Katie Lunsford, Kayla Mullen, and Kelly Smith for their many hours of interviews and transcription. We would not have been able to meet our deadline without their help.
We want to recognize Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School, Billy Joe Stiles, and William Thurmond for their information, input, and help with the history and information used in the Farm Family stories. We also thank Mrs. Dorothy Carnes for the picture she provided of the Woodard family, and the Clerk of Court staff of Habersham County and the Northeast Georgia Regional Library for their assistance with research on some of the crime stories.
Former Foxfire book editors Margie Bennett, Kaye Collins, and Lacy Hunter Nix brought their expertise back to the mountain and provided knowledge and help that made this whole thing possible. They proved to be such valuable assets, and their contributions were enormous. Kaye Collins sacrificed her summer vacation from teaching and spent countless hours in the archives of Foxfire, training students, researching, writing, interviewing, and providing guidance to those of us who were new at this task. Lacy Hunter Nix stepped in to fill a void in the middle of the project, and her knowledge and dedication proved to be a godsend. Margie Bennett, longtime Foxfire teacher and ally, even worked from a hospital bed in Tennessee and was so willing to tackle any task, whether it was interviewing, transcribing, writing, or just securing permission slips from contacts to have their stories published. Sheri Thurmond worked extensively on the Farm Family section and conducted several interviews. Teresa Gentry was instrumental in getting this book project off the ground and also interviewed and edited several articles. Museum curator Barry Stiles and former student Ben McClain also provided expert knowledge and helped to organize and write many of the how-to articles.
Special thanks go to Rev. Delbert McCall and Reagan Riddle, who allowed us to use the lyrics of their songs, and to all the musicians who allowed us to record their musical compilations for a CD. Lee Carpenter worked tireless hours to format tons of material and get it ready for publication. His creative ability and sense of design provided the needed touch in the book’s completion.
Finally, our deepest appreciation goes to the contacts whose stories are featured within these pages. This book would not have been possible if they had not been willing to share their lives with our readers. And then there’s Ann Moore, Foxfire’s president and chief executive officer. Ann is a remarkable woman who remained calm during the most stressful times even though she carried the heaviest burden of us all. She sacrificed meals and sleep and worked through her vacation to provide the direction and guidance we desperately needed. She proofed all the copy numerous times and was definitely the glue that held us all together. I truly admire her dedication and commitment to Foxfire and our contacts and students.
—Joyce Green and Casi Best, editors
In addition to the acknowledgments from our editors, I, too, want to thank everyone, especially the writing staff, who played such a huge part in the compilation of this book. My appreciation to Lee Carpenter, as well, who spent many nights after his regular job, pulling the book together as a whole for us; the excellent design is also his work. Lee is a patient man! He always allowed us to make last-minute changes and rewrites, and though it may have been a bit stressful, he took it all in stride! I also want to acknowledge and say a special thank-you to the two editors for all that they have contributed to bring this book to fruition. As you can see, so much of the work that is included was accomplished by them. Casi is a former Foxfire student who made a huge contribution to Foxfire during her high school years, and she continues to do so. While a student, she contributed over three hundred volunteer hours to us, in addition to her classroom work. She is an intelligent, wonderful young Christian woman whom I think the world of. She is now at Piedmont College becoming a nurse, and she will be a great one! Joyce Green: What in the world can I say? She is so incredibly creative, as you can see from her introduction to the book, her section introductions, and the songs she wrote that we’ve included here. What you don’t know is that she is a wonderful person, a great teacher, a brickmason and carpenter, an interior decorator, a beautiful singer and talented musician, and a caring Christian wife, daughter, and mother. Joyce is so talented in so many ways! Without her dedication to this book and the untold (and unpaid) hours she spent writing at night, on weekends, and during the final stages of this draft, we would not have been able to put this manuscript to bed on time. With sincerest appreciation to Joyce, Casi, Lee, and our book crew members for this latest, terrific addition to the Foxfire collection.
—Ann M
oore, president and executive director
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Banjo Ringing Loud and Clear, Mountain Music in the Air
Introduction
“People will forget our past if it isn’t recorded.”
Foxfire’s History
A Beautiful Life
In the Good Ol’ Days
“Praise the Lord, Sammy’s quit smoking!”
An interview with Sammy Green
“Don’t you ever stop by my house again asking for whiskey!”
An interview with Madge Merrell
“So that’s pretty well my eighty-nine years.”
Jack P. Nix tells us about his career
“But he was a stinker, that boy of mine.”
An interview with Lillie Billingsley
“He had his head stuck up, and Mama shot him.”
Memories from David “Lightnin’ ” Callenback
“I don’t feel like I’m Republican; I know I am.”
An interview with Carlee Heaton
“Most of the toys I had was homemade.”
Coyl Justice shares childhood memories
“The first airplane … we thought it was the Lord a-comin’.”
An interview with Vaughn Billingsley
“You either moonshined or you sold corn to moonshiners.”
Memories from Allen English
“Castro, he invited me to come see him.”
Tommy Irvin on forty years as ag commissioner
Knoxville Girl
Crime Close to Home
“A ripple of dramatic emotion swept over the courtroom.”
The 1939 murder of Grace Bingham Brock
Hell-Bent and Whiskey Bound: A Scaly Mountain Murder
As told by Lillie Billingsley
“Well, now, this is a true story.”
A story of birth and death from Melissa Rogers
Last words, in a choked voice: “Good-bye, men.”
The hanging of Will Brown
“Yeah, that stuff’s a-growin’ wild up there.”
Life and times of former sheriff Marley Cannon
“Machine Gun Bandits Hold Up Bank Of Clayton”
1934 bank robbery as recalled by Huell Bramlett
“I ain’t made no liquor in a long time.”
Bass Dockery, “the Wild Russian”
“Let me tell you about Bass.”
Bill White says, “We hit it off good”
“Oh, Lord, if you won’t help me, don’t help them.”
The legend of the Moccasin gang
A Legacy Lives On
Sam McMahan on the loss of the Woodards
Barbara Allen
Tales and Legends
“This happened on a cold, windy winter night.”
Family ghost stories from Melissa Rogers
“Our cemetery is haunted. Did you know it?”
Louise Tabor relates a tale for Halloween
“If you believe in spirits at all, like I do …”
Bob Justus talks about the “little people”
The Legend of the Deer and the Witch
Lillie Billingsley’s “tale that my daddy told me”
“You may not believe this, but they say …”
Numerous Rabun legends from several people
“These old mountains have lots of magic.”
Fairy tales and folklore from Clyde Hollifield
“I wasn’t hallucinating.”
Greg Stancil’s true encounter with the devil
Echoes
Mountain Music Fills the Air
“We went to the Grand Ole Opry in 1960.”
Curtis Blackwell
“I like the ol’ brother-style duet stuff.”
Wallace “Josh” Crowe
A Story and a Song
David Holt
“It’s been real, and it’s been fun, but it ain’t been real fun!”
LV and Mary Mathis
A Family Tradition
Mountain Faith
Fishers of Men
The Primitive Quartet
A Band Is Born
George Reynolds and The Foxfire Boys
“Because He Loved Me”
Morris Stancil and his son, Greg Stancil
The Banjo Can Also Touch the Heart
Dale Tilley
“I’m a musician.”
Gary Waldrep
“Emergency services pronounced me dead at the scene.”
Young Harmony
Daddy Was a Farmer
School Farm Families
Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School Farm Family Program
Dr. Karl Anderson
“I think it was the people that made it so special.”
Frances Fry Deal
“Jack Acree … washed my mouth out with soap!”
Jimmy Deal
“What I’ve got now, I picked up from Rabun Gap School.”
James Adams
Farmer’s Daughter
Jo-Anne Stiles Hubbs
“You just enjoyed living.”
J. T. Coleman
“Mama ordered one hundred little biddy chickens.”
William Thurmond
“Life was hard, but there were fun times also.”
Harold Thurmond
“Being on the school farm was a wonderful thing!”
Doug Nix
“I knowed there wasn’t nobody else for me.”
Lucy Webb and her daughter Mary Webb Kitchens
“Raise ’em, feed ’em, and kill ’em.”
Doris Carpenter and her son Jim Carpenter
“I can remember in the fall of the year …”
Bobbie Dills Carter
“They provided the house, and we provided the labor.”
Marjorie Robinson and her son Morris Robinson
“It was really a blessing for us.”
Tommy and Emma Chastain
Cotton Gins and Sawmills
The Jordan Family
With His Own Two Hands
We’ll Tell You How
Tying a True Lover’s Knot
Research by Lee Carpenter
The Adaptable Five-in-One Sled
Kyle Bolen
Building an Oak Shaving Horse
With Claud Connell
Chair Bottoming with Poplar Bark
Harriet Echols, Elvin Cabe, and Nelson Cabe
Raising Native Azaleas from Seed
Coyl Justice
Forging a Traditional Drawknife
Barry Stiles
Braiding a Leather Bullwhip
Frank Vinson
The Past Meets the Present
A Closing Letter from Foxfire President Ann Moore
Experiencing Traditional Music
Southeastern Bluegrass and Gospel Festivals
Editors and Staff
Contributors
Banjo Ringing Loud and Clear, Mountain Music in the Air
When Ann Moore, Foxfire’s president, approached me about being coeditor of The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book, I knew immediately that I wanted our readers to be engulfed in the Appalachian mountain music that is near and dear to my heart. The mellow sounds of the guitar, the whining of the fiddle, the high pitch of the banjo, and the lapping notes of the big standing doghouse bass are the pure sounds of traditional music that draw in the audience like a moth to a flame. Once you have been captured by its rich and pure melodies, you will never be free.
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From the time I was three years old, I traveled with my daddy, an old-fashioned Baptist preacher, to churches all over northern Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to attend their monthly singings. The pews were always full, with people spilling out to the porch and yard and even huddled outside the church’s open windows. Many drove long distances to savor the sounds of the pure Appalachia
n music. There was no air-conditioning, only the paper fans provided by the local funeral homes and an occasional breeze drifting through the tall windows.
Sometimes our travels took us to tent revivals, where folding chairs were placed in straight rows on the fresh wood shavings covering the ground. The smell of recently cut grass, which had been trimmed with a sling blade around the perimeter of the newly erected tent, mingled with the smell of the new shavings from the local sawmill. If it rained, sometimes water would begin to drip on your head from holes worn in the tent from many years of use. The roughly hand-painted sign, which read REVIVAL, was visible from its strategically placed anchor near the roadside. The music was mostly bluegrass gospel with the groups playing strictly acoustic instruments. Usually this included a guitar, banjo, mandolin, and possibly a fiddle. The sound was mellow and the harmony tight.
Occasionally, these singings featured southern gospel groups accompanied by a piano. I longed to play the piano, but my parents could not afford to buy one, much less pay for lessons, so I would sit at the kitchen table, carefully press the wrinkles from my dress with the palms of my hands, and pump away at the make-believe pedal on the floor. It was about this time in my life when my uncle Eddie bought me a guitar. It would be the second one from him. The first had been a small plastic version when I was three years old. That toy guitar had brought me many hours of enjoyment as I sat on a swing made by my dad from an old board with the words JESUS SAVES painted on the seat. This one was a real wooden guitar. I was so proud of that old used guitar. I still own it after fifty-some years. He, along with my mom and dad, taught me a few chords, and I learned to play rhythm well enough to get by. I love the guitar, but to this day I still dream about playing the piano.
As the years have passed, etching their ever-lingering reminders in my face, my love for bluegrass has continued to become more ingrained in my being. I grew up listening to the music of the Carter Family, Bill and Charlie Monroe, the Blue Sky Boys, the Stanley Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Delmore Brothers, just to name a few. Wayne Raney of WCKY, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Grand Ole Opry could be heard above the static on the old cracked red radio we owned. Mr. Raney, the DJ, would announce and play music for a while, play his harmonica, sing a few songs himself, and then sell baby dominicker and red leghorn chickens to his listening audience. He also sold and shipped hundreds of harmonicas across the country through the years. The slow, fast, happy, and sad ballads told stories that bounced off the cardboard-ceiled walls of our little country home. The aroma of Mama’s homemade cake, baking in the old woodstove, would fill each room while the sound of Daddy’s chopping ax was daily splitting wood for the heater that kept us warm during the cold winter months. There was no running water in the house; an aluminum dipper floated on top of the spring water that had been carried to the house in a two-gallon aluminum bucket. Beside the bucket was a matching aluminum wash pan placed beneath the hand towel hanging from a nail driven in the wall. We all drank from the same dipper, washed our hands in the same water, and dried on the same towel.
The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book Page 1