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He aimed to give Grit’s readers courage and strength
Always keep Grit from being pessimistic. Avoid printing those things which distort the minds of readers or make them feel at odds with the world. Avoid showing the wrong side of things, or making...
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Stalking game with his slingshot
“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...
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First RFD mail delivery in America
It’s right there on his gravestone: Harry C. Gibson, June 8, 1876; April 19, 1938; Carried First Rural Mail in the United States; October 1, 1896. “He was so anxious to deliver mail, he started a few...
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He’d been known to escape houses through the keyhole
“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...
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Death, witches and superstitions
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,...
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The center of social activity for the upstate
South Carolinians have known about the mineral springs of Glenn Springs, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Spartanburg, for centuries. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, the...
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The farmer has become a prince
“The log cabin no longer adorns the landscape. Instead, is the stately mansion, indicative of wealth, of taste and of hospitality. There are spacious, nicely painted barns, hedges, orchards,...
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East Tennessee was considered the ‘pits’ of the mission
“The Mormons in the hills of eastern Tennessee were often under attack by people from other churches. Near Bybee on November 6, 1934, I wrote, ‘Went around & visited about 4 families of Saints. At...
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Bastardy Bonds
English law in the American colonies could get a bit florid on the topic of illegitimate children. A bastard child (or ‘bastarda’, if female) could become a ‘special bastard’ by the subsequent marriage...
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It throwed the lead mule way up on the hillside
“One time we were hauling long timbers for the railroad company. 30 ft. long and it required 2 cars to haul the timbers on, a car under each end and it was pulled with 2 mules, one in front of the...
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How the post office came to Pine Mountain KY
“Back in the days when I knew him, Uncle William [ed.– William Creech 1845-1918] was the sage of Pine Mountain; he was the leader to whom the creek dwellers far and near turned for guidance in time of...
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The pie the British authorities banned
CARSKADON’S Raisins, figs, currants, citron, orange and lemon peel, mince meat and all those things which go to make the Christmas table attractive and beautiful. Do not fool your money away on useless...
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Had to furnish my own horse; bought one from the coal company
John Holt (1870-1918), a coal miner in Murray City, OH, kept a journal of his daily life. John Holt and the coal miners he worked with outside of the mine in Murray City. April 1907- “The miners here...
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"Morrison Is Employing Boy 12 Years of Age"
Chattanooga Daily Times, December 12, 1915– Mark Morrison, manager of Morrison’s, well known local drug firm, was arraigned yesterday before Esquire Kerby, charged with violating the child labor law,...
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Put the children’s packages in their stockings
DECEMBER 1915 FRIDAY 24 “Well, the chittlings, a part of them Alice sent over by Pete. They were intestines cleaned ready to cut into short pieces to fry. I told Tillie she needn’t fry any for me....
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Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
Jesus, Jesus, rest your head. You have got a manger bed. All the evil folk on earth, Sleep in feathers at their birth. (But) Jesus, Jesus, rest your head. You have got a manger bed. Have you heard...
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I am a poor girl what you might say got no home
Franklin NC Dec. 10, 1926 Mr. F.M. Lida. Dear Sir I am going to write you for a little information about R.E. Gilliland if you know any thing about him. Last Thursday night two week ago he and I got...
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I have always worked with men
Lillian Exum Clement was nominated as a Democratic candidate for North Carolina’s House of Representatives two months before the 19th Amendment, granting the vote to women, was ratified in August 1920....
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Artifact looter, or artifact collector?
Edna Lynn Simms’ original photo caption accompanying her portrait of him reads simply: “George D. Barnes, collector of Indian relics, Dayton, Tenn.” Sounds straightforward enough. But it leaves out the...
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Dedicating the Arrowhead Monument at Old Fort
Old Fort: the name says it. It is indeed one of the oldest towns in western North Carolina, and it was originally a fort, built by the colonial militia before the Declaration of Independence. Once...
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