LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK Guide 1920-1980

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 27: SCRAPBOOKS
Local History Scrapbook Guide
1920-1980

LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK: John Shell. "Latest Study of Oldest Man in the World ... " ; LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK Guide

John Shell. “Official Records Cut…Age,” 1920. Page 28a. [local_hist_album_029.jpg]

TAGS: Local History Scrapbook Guide 1920-1980, newspaper clippings, narratives, history of PMSS area

LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK Guide 1920-1980

The LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK GUIDE 1920-1980 provides links to images of newspaper clippings of narratives related to the history of the Pine Mountain Settlement School’s surroundings. Subjects include Native Americans, unidentified graves, Old Wilderness Road, mountain English, Appalachian mountaineers, pioneer settlers, Cumberland Gap, Civil War, Hazard and Harlan County, Kentucky, religious beliefs, John Shell, The Mountain Magazine and Chris Anderson.

The articles were written in the early 1920s to 1980 and the dates in the stories range from 1904 to 1926.

CONTENTS: LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK Guide 1920-1980

1. “Cumberland Gap Past and Present” discusses: Mound Builders in Harlan County. [2 pages]

Indian mounds ; Cumberland River ; Chattanooga ; Mound Builders ; Native Americans in eastern Kentucky ; archaeology ; Cumberland Gap ; Warrior’s Trail ;

Unrelated [?] material about the location of Miss Pearl’s Garden of Eden in the Pine Mountains [source]? ; foodways ; NEEDS FULL ARTICLE – TRANSCRIPTION.

2. “Graves of Unknown Dead on Warrior’s Trail” (1922)

Graves of the Unknown Dead. Three Hundred Found On Red Bird Creek Near The Old Warrior’s Trail.” c. 1922. Discusses: Warrior’s Trail ; Shawnees ; Cherokee ; battles ; Cumberland River ; Kentucky River ; Chief Red Bird ; graves ; Battle of Red Bird Creek ; Tahlequah drawings on buffalo bones ; 1655 Indian battle ;

3. “Harry C. Batts, Descendent of First Party of White Men Through Gap” (1922)

Harry C. Batts. The Descendant of One of the Party of Eight Who Were The First White Men To Visit And Explore Middlesboro and Cumberland Gap.” by F.S. Lee, Engineer. Discusses: pamphlet, ‘Middlesboro, Kentucky, the Logical and Ideal Location for the Government Armor Plate Plant,’ 1917 ; Dr. Thomas Walker ; Cumberland Gap ; Duke of Cumberland ; Captain Thomas Batts ; Filson Club ; ‘First Exploration in Kentucky’ ; Col. Christopher Gist (1751) ; ‘La Chine’ ; ‘Flowery Kingdom’ ; Falls of the Appomattox ; Apomatock Indians ; Jack Nesam ; Allegheny Mountains ; New River ; Woods River ; Alexander Spotswood ; Shenandoah ; LaSalle ; Marquette ; De Soto ; Loyal Land Company ;

4. “Indian Tragedy of Mingo Hollow” (1921)

“Indian Tragedy in Mingo Hollow. Interesting Story of How Famous Hollow Got Its Name.” Mingo Hollow, Jan. 26, 1921. Source unknown. Discusses: Mingoes ; Cherokee ; Mingo Hollow ; Yellow Creek ; Oogalah, Eagle of the Mingoes ; Cumberland Gap ; Middlesboro ; Stony Fork ;

5. “Old Wilderness Road One [of the] Best Early Highways” (1923)

“Old Wilderness Road One [of the] Best Early Highways. Ran from Hosten [Holsten] River, Virginia, Through Middlesboro and Cumberland Gap to Mouth of Otter.” OPENED JUST BEFORE BEGINNING OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR.” Middlesboro Daily News, March 26, 1923. Discusses: early roads of Kentucky ; J.T. Madison ; Holston River ; Wilderness Road ; Powell’s Valley ; Bennett Pemberton ‘ Nathaniel Sanders ; Daniel Weisiger; Road Law 1801 ;

5a. “Our Mountain English” (1923)

Mountain English ; Hatcher Hughes ; “Hell Bent fer Heaven” ; theater ; failure to capture mountain English for the stage. Critical review of new play “Hell Bent for Heaven.” ; linguistics ; language ;

6. “The Mountaineers of the Appalachian Mountains” (1923)

“The Mountaineers of the Appalachian Mountains.” Discusses: Straight Creek ; Daniel Boone ; Simon Kenton ; pioneers ; Boone Trail ; French Huguenots ; Scotch ; Red Bird Creek ; Warrior’s Trail ; foodways ; minerals ; Red Bird ; Indian burial ground on Red Bird Creek ;

7. “Cumberland Gap Pioneer Settlers” [Col. Arthur Campbell, 1743-1811, American Revolution], 1923

“Cumberland Gap. Pioneer Settlers.” Discusses: State of Franklin ; Major Pat Ferguson ; Tories ; Col. John Sevier ; Sycamore Shoals ; King’s Mountain ; Middlesboro ; Col. James Campbell ;

8. “Pioneer Days in Kentucky”: Aunt Susie Collins of Puckett’s Creek “Squaw Fannie,” 1922

“Pioneer Days in Kentucky” discusses Native American beliefs ; foodways ;

9. “Pioneer Families of Kentucky” William Bingham of Pineville, KY, n.d.

“Pioneer Families of Kentucky.” Capt. and Mrs. William Bingham of Pineville. The earliest settlers of Bell County. Related to Bingham, Asher, Lane. Dill Asher was a companion of Daniel Boone.

10. “Winton and Its Treasures” by Johanna Peter. Merediths – Breckenridge. Relatives of Katherine Pettit

“Winton and Its Treasures” by Johanna Peter. Written for Bradford Club and read at its meeting of April 4, n.d. Discusses the origins of “Winton” home at North Elkhorn, seven miles north of Lexington on the Newtown Pike [Henry’s Mill Road].

11. “Old Pioneer Tales,” Parsons Family Civil War [Part I] (1921)

“Old Pioneer Tales. Burchfield, Ky., June 21, 1921. Editor, Three States.” Discusses: Pioneer life ; Cumberland River ; Grandma Juda Parsons ; Rockcastle County ; Perry County ; Indian fighters ; deer hunting ; foodways ; night hunting ; panthers ; salt licks ;

12. “Old Pioneer Tales,” Parsons Family Civil War [Part II] (1921)

“Old Pioneer Tales. Burchfield, Ky., Aug. 16, 1921. Special to Three States.” Discusses: Granny Parsons ; Braddock’s army ; Fort Du Quesne ; Indians ; Indian captives ; foodways ; maple sugar ; festivals ; feasts ; Bible ; War with Mexico ; Civil War ; World War I ; railroads ; bears ;

13. “Old Pioneer Tales, A Night of Horror” [Part III] 1921 (Alchemy) ; Jake Gabbard

“Old Pioneer Tales. ‘A Night of Horror. A Boy’s Experience in Ye Olden Tyme.’ Balkan, Ky., June 28, 1921. Special to Three States.” Discusses: farming ; foodways ; fishing ; Jake Gabbard ; Black Mountain ; alchemy ; gold ; ‘Philosopher’s Stone ; pioneer life ;

14. Cumberland Gap and Wilderness Road, “Indian Outrages Succeeded by Those of White Bandits (Harpe Brothers) [See: #1]

Cumberland Gap ; Wilderness Road ; bandits ; “Big” Harpe ; “Little” Harpe ; Stanford jail ; Rockcastle County ; Henderson, Kentucky ; Danville jail ; Dill Asher ; Adair County ; Crab Orchard Springs ; 1797 ; 1798 ; Knoxville, Tennessee ; Greene River ; robbery ; Col. Trabue ; cornmeal ; Stigall family ; murder ;

15. “‘Tis 60 Years Since Civil War in Cumberland Valley”

Civil War ; War Between the States ; Juda Parsons ; Cumberland Valley ; Cumberland River ; foodways ; Cumberland Gap ; Morgan’s Raiders ; 1850 – 1860 ; forest mast ; chestnuts ; Republicans ; abolitionists ; President Abraham Lincoln ; religion ; Sunday School ; Rebels ; General George W. Morgan ; the Pinnacle ; East Tennessee ; Gen. Bragg ; John Hunt Morgan ; Proctor, Ky. ; Red Bird, Ky. ;

16. “Cumberland Gap 1815-1861” [Part I, pages 16 & 16a]

Cumberland Gap ; War of 1812 ; Indians ; Cumberland Valley ; Cumberland River ; Sir Walter Scott ; Harriet Beecher Stowe ; “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” ; salt ; salt licks ; plowshares ; farming ; strategic geography of Cumberland Gap ; foodways ; Fort Donelson ; Brigadier General F.K. Zollicoffer ; Confederates ; Governor Harris ; General Buckner ; Adjutant-General Cooper ; Knoxville, Tennessee ; Nelson’s Camp, Kentucky ; Three Log Mountains ; Cumberland Ford ; G railroad bridges in war ; President Abraham Lincoln ; refusal to recognize the neutrality of Cumberland Gap area ;

17. “Cumberland Gap and Vicinity. Fall and Early Winter of 1861” Incidents Recounted By Rev. S. Owsley and Others. [Part II, pages 17 & 17a]

Cumberland Gap ; Union army ; Champ Ferguson ; John Morgan ; Camp Dick Robinson ; Dick [Richard] Flynn ; Cumberland County, Tennessee ; Dan Ellis ; Carter County, Tennessee ; Rebels ; Fort Henry ; General George W. Morgan ; General Spears ; General Carter’s brigade ; 1st, 2nd, 4th regiments of Union ; 3rd, 5th, 6th Tennessee regiments ; Captain William Strong ; Breathitt County ; Ed Callahan ; Alex Deaton store ; revolver Blacksnake 38 ; Cherokee ; Three Forks Batallion ; H.C. Lily ; General Woolford ; Camp Nelson ; 14th Kentucky Cavalry ; John Wilcox ; Wilcox House ; Greenville, Tennessee ;

18. “Cumberland Gap 1861-1862” [Part I, pages 16 & 16a]
“Cumberland Gap 1861-1862” [Part III, pages 18 & 18a]

19. “War at Paynes Mill” (Civil War episode)

Civil War ; Payne’s Mill ; Virginia ; Kentucky ; slavery ; neutrality in wartime ; battles ; Aunt Katy Payne ; grist mill ; women of courage ; millers ; Southern draft ;

20. “Pioneer Life at Callaway, Ky. 1920”

Callaway, Kentucky ; pioneers ; whiskey ; moonshine ; religion ; Deacon Jim Callaway ; preachers ; preaching ; Bible ; Paul Parsons ; Juda Parsons ; Cumberland Gap ; Rebels ; caves ; Yankees ; gun powder ; raiders ; foodways ; corn pone ; meal ; Indian trails ; Bell County, Kentucky ; sheep ; yarn ; wool ; buckskin ; linsey-woolsey ; self-sustaining families ;

21. “Past History: Three States Newspaper”

The Three States newspaper describes a re-publishing effort to make available old issues of the newspaper for readers. The first paper was published on May 22, 1889. The date of the re-publishing is only 30 years later in 1922.

Three States newspaper ; pioneers ; old newspapers ; Cumberland Gap ; E.C. Colgan ; A.C. Snyder ; advertisements ; Marshall and Dixon livery stable ; lumber ; coal ; coke ; brick ; lime ; R.W Knott of Louisville Courier-Journal ; M.H. Smith, Vice-President of L & N Railroad ; Governor Bucknor of Kentucky ; SALUTATORY ; industrial progress ; Cumberland Gap ; industrial progress ; natural resources ; Middlesboro ; Cumberland Gap railway tunnel ; Louisville & Nashville Railroad ; Yellow Creek valley ; minerals ; Dillwyn Springs, Tennessee ; hotels ; capitalists ; traders ; artisans ; macadamized streets ; railway ; industrial spirit ;

22. “Red Men Revive Interest in Search for Silver Mine” Wallins Creek.

“Red Men Revive Interest in Search For Silver Mine.” Wallins Creek, Ky. Dec. 20 Three States Special. No. 47.” Discusses: Swift Silver Mine; buried treasure ; secrets ; Captain Swift ; British Army ; earthquakes ; Reelfoot Lake ; Indians ; Indian Territory ; Boudinot ; Cherokee ;

23. “History of Combs Family by S.S. Combs” (Hazel Green Herald) 1926 [?]

S.S. Combs. Begins in this issue, The History of the Combs Family. Hazel Green Herald. 1926 [?] Discusses: Harrison Combs ; Scotland ; Russell County, VA ; Hazard, KY ; North Fork, Kentucky River ; Washington County, VA ; peach brandy ; Fifteen Mile Creek ; Troublesome Creek ; Isaac Combs ; Wolfe County ; Breathitt County ; Matthew Combs ; Henry Combs ; Hugh Combs ; George Combs ; Steve Combs ; bow oars ; flat boats ; stern oars ; New Orleans ; Charles Allen ; Lee County ; Fannie Brown ; George Washington ; Annie Brown ; eye disease ; Isaac Bach ; Tempie Davis ; Evans Davis ; Susie Davis ; Letcher County ; Quicksand, Ky ; Ben Grigsby ; Polly Davis ; James Combs ; Dulcina Combs ; Stephen Combs ; Sewell Combs ; Larkin Combs ; Alfred Combs ; Asberry Combs ; William Combs ; Isaac Combs ; Evaline Combs ; Winnie Combs ; Angelina combs ; Ben Combs ; Mat Combs ; Edward Combs ; John S. William’s regiment ; Capt. J.M. Thomas’ Company ; Capt. David Swango Company ; Harrison Swango ; Col. H.C. Lilly regiment ; Sixth Kentucky Calvary ; Alfred Combs ; General Elijah Combs, Adjutant General of Kentucky ; Hazard, KY ; Kentucky Legislature ; Benjamin Combs ; Russell County, VA ; Daniel Boone ; peach orchard ; Ned McIntosh ; stills ; peach brandy ; Crawford family ; Circuit Court, Hazard, KY ; Henry Combs ; Hazel Green, KY ; J.G. Trimble, merchant ; W.O. Mize, clerk ; Ike Combs ; Stillwater Creek, Wolfe, Co., KY ; Austin Godsey ; merchants ;

24. “Hazard. Heart of the Coalfields 1919” by Samuel Morse Chewault [1919]

Hazard, Kentucky ; Perry County, Kentucky ; coal ; coal mining ; Samuel Morse Chewault ; Elijah Combs ; North Fork Kentucky River ; established Perry County in 1821 ; Perry formed from part of Breathitt, Floyd and Clay Counties ; Hazard, “beginning at a stake 5 1/2 poles from the corner of his chicken house …” ; Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry ; Grapevine, Ky ; L & N Railroad ; 1910 census showed 600 population ; 1919 c. 6000-7000 population ; bounded by Walker’s Branch on north and Lothair on south ; school in city has 1,200 students ; Perry County schools has 7,500 students ; 1,000 Democrats and 3,000 Republicans ; 40 coal companies ; Blue Diamond Coal Company ; Hazard Junior Coal Company ; Liberty Coal Company ; Daniel Boone Coal Company ; Hard Burley, Ky ; Domino, Ky ; Lennut, Ky ; Lots Creek, Ky ; Hardy-Burlingham Coal Company ; U.S. Steel Corporation, Lynch, Ky ; Carr’s Fork, Ky ; Leatherwood, Ky ; 300,000,000 feet of timber in area ; tipples ; 750 car-loads of coal by rail daily at Hazard, 1919 ; predicts Hazard will become largest city east of Lexington ; First National bank ; Perry State bank ; bank resources of $1,500,000 ; 5 school buildings ; 4 churches ; Gross Hospital ; Botkin Hospital under construction ; Beaumont Hotel ; Fulp Hotel ; Wyatt Hotel ; movie theaters ; 8 wholesale houses ; 20 retail grocery stores ; pool rooms ; 18 lawyers ; 8 doctors ; rental at capacity in 1919 ; Hazard Herald newspaper owned by J.B. Hoge, editor, John B. Horton ; English, Scotch-Irish “with trace of French blood” ; WWI soldiers: Captain Hanan Fields Combs ; Lieutenant Alex Davidson ; Lieutenant William Jameson ; Lieutenant S.B. Brashear ; Stephen Bach; Milton Barger, Cyrus Taylor Buckner ; Monroe Combs ; Yerkes Plowman ; Chester Singleton ; Lawrence Wagers ; Roscoe C, Hurt ; John Calvin Napier ; Shafer Napier ; Daniel Duff ; Roscoe Morris ; Willie Engle ; Saul Campbell ;

25. “In Old Kentucky: Stories of the Mountains …”, (N.Y. Herald Tribune, 1920)

Governor Edwin P. Morrow describes mountains where he was born ; “native vein of religion” ; “primitive virtues” ; “pride in his elementals” ; “ignorant of letters and the softening of civilization” ; mountaineer is honest ; Lihu Bruce ; Laurel Fork of the Cumberland ; Molly Bruce ; foodways ; mountain hospitality ; Jellico Mountain ; Amos Skidmore ; personal debt ; grand juries ; Piney Grove church maples ; Stephen Decatur ; patriotism ; Breathitt County ; McCreary County lead nation in per capita subscription to Liberty bonds ; Poncho Villa ; letter from Silas Sullivan living in Denmark, Kentucky ; moonshine stills in Kentucky mountains ; infringement on liberties ; still house is the mountaineer’s club ; Hump Davids banjo player ; Bill Sisemore [Sizemore] and fox hounds ; “take no ‘underholds’ in your dealings …” with mountain men ; feud stories ; Lige Parsons ; Possom Trot, Kentucky ;

26. “History of Harlan County” by Mrs. A.B. Cornett, May 7, 1921

[Note in hand of Katherine Pettit on margins ?] [1921] “History of Harlan County.” by Mrs. A.B. Cornett, May 7, 1921. Discusses: formation of Kentucky ; General Assembly 1819 ; Major Silas Harlan ; timber ; coal ; mining ; railroads ; U.S. Steel Company ; International Harvester Company ; Ford Motor Company ; American Light and Traction Company ; Kopper’s Company ; Edison Motor Company ; McCombs’s Coal Company ; Upson Nut Company ; soil composition ; agriculture ; geology ; geography ; John Shell [Johnny Schell] ; Martin’s Fork ; African Americans ; feuding ; feuds ; Presbyterians ; Terry’s Fork Coal Company ; Red Cross Campaign, WWI ; Republicans ; Eleventh Congressional District

Kentucky County, Virginia origin in 1776 ; 1790 separated from Virginia ; 1792 Kentucky admitted into the Union as 15th state and 2nd after the 13 Colonies ; Harlan County was 60th county in order of formation ; Harlan County formed in 1819 ; Formed out of parts of Knox and Floyd Counties ; named for Silas Harlan, Virginian who commanded company of scouts in Illinois campaigns of 1779 against Indians under General George Rogers Clark ; 1842 Letcher County was formed from northern part of Harlan County ; 1867 Bell County was formed from southern and southwestern parts of Harlan ; 1878 Leslie County was formed from northwestern part of Harlan county ; Harlan County bounded by Leslie on north, Perry and Letcher Counties on east and State of Virginia on southeast, and by Bell County on west ; Big Black Mountain tallest and most rugged of mountains in state ; Big Black Mountain is 4,400 feet in elevation ; highest elevation is at head of Looney’s Creek ; Great Stone [rock is one mile long and six hundred feet high] or Cumberland mountains on the southern boundary ; Pine Mountain in northern part of county ; 225, 798 acres of prime timber (1921) much now cut away ; Cumberland River drains much of the county ; none of the streams in county are navigable ; mountain slope wash badly and are not good for farming ; agricultural products include hay, corn, oats, wheat, rye, potatoes, tobacco and demand exceeds supply ; county seat first known as “Mt. Pleasant” in 1904 ; illiteracy is high; only one high school accredited ; State Board of Health organized Public Health Bureau in 1920. Includes Nurse, Director, Sanitary Inspector, Clerical Assistant ; macadamized road through county planned in 1920 but only 10 miles built ; bridge over Clover Fork was first wagon bridge built ; coal mining did not prosper until coming of L & N railroad in 1911; Terry Fork Coal Company shipped first load of coal from county in 1911 ; 1920 now 75 mines in county ; Geological Survey notes that 6 million tons of coal mined in Harlan County in 1920 ; 2/3 of coal mined by outside interests such as U.S. Steel at Lynch and International Harvester Company at Benham ; Ford Motor Company at Banner Fork ; American Light and Traction company of Detroit at Wilhoit, Ky ; Kopper’s Company at Coxton supplied coal for coke ovens at Minneapolis ; Edison Motor Company at King, Ky ; McCombs Coal Company of Cleveland supplies Upson Nut Company from mines at Elcomb ; population in 1920 estimated to be 35,000 ; Harlan County led all counties in state with donations to Red Cross campaigns and second in U.S. ;

27. “A Strange Tale of Demonical Possession. [partial article] [c. 1920s]

demons ; churches ; religion ; witches ; black cat ; red fox ; air of pride and impressive calm in the witch ; remedy for man in possession of devil ; 7 devils needed 7 preachers ; use of prayer to block demons and evil spirits from taking body of James Rhehaustead ; Witch of the Mountains remedy accepted and tried out ; [incomplete article]

28. “John Shell Oldest Man in the World.” A newspaper clipping headlined, “Official Records Cut ‘Uncle John’ Shell’s Age From 132 to 97 Years” from the New-Church League Journal, December 1921, and Lexington Herald-Leader, July 1919. Also, a second clipping, headlined “Latest Study of Oldest Man in the World,” also from the Herald-Leader, dated April 11, 1920.

John Shell ; Greasy Creek, Kentucky ; oldest man in the world ; claims 131 years of age on 3rd of September, 1921; remembers George Washington ; remembers when Napoleon, Lincoln, Darwin, Longfellow, Whittier, Edgar Allen Poe, Daniel Boone and others were alive ; investigated by National Geographic ; Uncle John believes his age to be 116 ; tax duplicates signed by John Shell in 1809 ; must be 21 years old to pay taxes ; Shell came from Scioto valley in Ohio ; shooting matches on Greasy Creek ; 25 to 30 miles per day walking ; fine eyesight ; Baptist ; religious ; descendants in hundreds ; father of 11 children, youngest is 4 years old ; New York scientist proves age is wrong ; Mr. Chappell, lumberman could not vouch for age ; 5 feet 2 inches tall and 103 pounds when visited by New York scientist ; wife died 5 years ago ; eats possum ; eats corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkins ; shoots fish in Greasy Creek for food ; broke his ribs in fall sixty years ago ; daily dram of liquor ; drinks herb tea ; susceptibility ; insanity suggested by Judge Faulkner in 1892 but cleared by 1897 ; hallucinations ; dementia ; Sherman Ludington ; wife displayed tax receipts for 1848, 1849 and Confederate bills ; William C. Shell is eldest son ; Allen H. Shell, William’s only child ; Mary (Polly) Huff daughter of John Shell ; Stewart Shell, son of Allen and grandson of William Shell ; Shell claimed to be born in same year as Lincoln ; Shell married present wife in 1916 he said ; researcher checked the Census records and cleared up dates ; Robert Ray ; John C. Eversole, Circuit Court Judge ; 11 children of John Shell is most accurate count ; Sherman Ludington, caretaker for Shell ; Henry M. Campbell ; Rufus Roberts, Prosecuting Attorney of Leslie, exploited John Shell’s age by exhibiting him at fairs ; John Asher exploited Shell according to researcher ;

29. Empty ?

30. The Mountain Magazine (Hazard Herald): Vol.1, No. 2, October, n.d. (c. 1918)

1st American Battle in World War”

“Sketch by Rev. Ira Combs of Jeff”

“Morgan’s Men – Reminiscences of Enoch ‘Chunk’ Craft”

“The Hazard High”

“Bethel of Boone’s Trace“ [continued from last issue of magazine]

“Civil War Times in and Around Whitesburg”

“Prof. Clarke Remembers”

“Hazard’s Pioneer History” by W.J. Combs

“What Physical Training Can Do For Us” by G.H. Marshall

“How Dr. Hurst Climbed the Ladder”

“Hindman Seniors”

“Articles to Appear in Our Next Issue”