Frank M. Allara Library Special Collections and Archives (Univ. of Pikeville)
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Page 22, Folk Tales of the Cumberlans
No full textA book of collected essays on life in the Appalachian mountains, created by the English Eleven students of Pikeville College, circa 1927.A FUNERAL OF EARLY DAYS
By Forest Stamper
In the opening years of the last century there came from the settle-
ments in the Blue-grass country several families “following the game.”
They picked their slow way up by Indian Fields and settled in Estill
County.
One of the leaders of the party was a lean, sinewy stalwart hunter
known as “Uncle Jim.”
Uncle Jim built his log cabin in the valley of the sinks near the cold
cove-spring a few acres in corn, beans and potatoes, a hen-house, wolf-
proof pen for sheep, stable for the horses and lot for the cows and
calves, these made up the farm.
Edith, the youngest daughter, was Uncle Jim’s pet. One day she went
to bed with a fever. The doctor was called but he could not cure her.
the neighbors had heard of Edith’s sickness and had arranged that at
least one from each f the half dozen families within twenty miles
would be there at all time to help. Dispite all of the care and
nursing, Edith grew worse and one morning she died.
This was the first death in the settlement. All the neighbors assisted
in the preparations for the funeral. Uncle Jim was of Indian descent
so he decided to bury Edith as the Indians of his tribe buried their
dead years ago, under great piles of stone on a high hill top. But
his wife pleaded for a grave and so he compromised by directing that
the grave be cut deep in the limestone rock on the top of a large hill
half a mile away.
Two days after Edith’s death the grave was finished; the crowd gathered
for the burial. The day was a particularly adopted one for a funeral.
A large black cloud hid the penetrating rays of the sun and the wind
whistled mournfully through the pines. Off to the south on a jogged
point a lone wolf howled dismally, and two panthers called to each
other in the depths of the forest.
The funeral procession began at six o’clock in the evening. Quietly
the little group wound its slow way up the hill. Six women carried
the pine coffin; the men carried their long riffles, ready for instant
use in case they should be disturbed by wild animals. A bird, bewild-
ered by the flickering of the torches, fell on the coffin.
All day the wolves had howled on the hill-top and now they closed in.
In the flare of the torches they were soon, springing from one covert
to another, yet never daring to attack. Occasionally one, bolder than
the rest, came up close to the line, his teeth gloaming and his eyes
flashing in the torch light.
Down in the valleys the fog was settling into great banks, stirred by
the moaning winds, rolling and massing into strange phantoms. The
great oaks stood staunch and grim against the gray shifting back-ground.
At the grave the men watched with guns ready, while the women lowered
the coffin into the grave. They put a slab of stone on the coffin and
then filled in with dirt. After they had placed stones at the head of
it, the circuit rider read the Bible and the first funeral was over
Page 24, Folk Tales of the Cumberlans
No full textA book of collected essays on life in the Appalachian mountains, created by the English Eleven students of Pikeville College, circa 1927.AMUSEMENT
Page 28, Folk Tales of the Cumberlans
No full textA book of collected essays on life in the Appalachian mountains, created by the English Eleven students of Pikeville College, circa 1927.day preparing for the great event.
About seven-thirty here came Mayor and his best girl with Mirand and her beau. In about half an hour every one was there ready to start stringing beans.
All of the girls were supposed to bring aprons so she and her sweetheart could string beans out of the same apron. Everyone strung and broke beans for about two hours and then some on hit Mayor in the eye with a bean. After that everyone began throwing and it wasn’t long until the whole floor was covered with mashed beans.
So the party ended up with every one having a good time and the crowd walked here singing old love songs in the moonlight.
AN APPLE PEELING
By Ruth Wright
Chairs are circled around a nice big pile of apples. Young and old a- like are seated ready to peel apples. This isn’t considered work but great fun providing someone else hasn’t taken your favorite friend for the night. The older people want so much to get the apples peeled so they can make apple butter and can apples tomorrow. On the other hand the younger set look forward to the dance which usually follows an apple peeling.
While they peel they also are entertained by trying fortunes with apple seeds. They count the seeds in an apple, then name a boy or girl for every seed. The fortune teller then starts reading the seeds. As every seed is read the one whose fortune is being told tells who he named each seed. The fortune starts like this: One he loves, two she loves, three, they both love, and so on.
Another form of amusement is to peel an apple without breaking the peel-ing and throw it back over your left shoulder. It will form some letter in the alphabet and this is considered the first letter in the name of your future husband or wife. And, of course, some of them seems too plain to be ignored.
When it’s all over the furniture is taken out of the room and the big dance is on.
VISIT TO A CAVE
After we had supper we left the campfire and strolled out into the invit-
ing darkness. We came to the mouth of a nearby cave through which we
slid inside to explore. Once inside you see rooms and passages as far
in the distance as your eye can pierce. Big rocks towering high and ex-
tending far out over one’s head. We see that there are passages down-
ward and upward leading into rooms. The upward one looked better to us,
safer for one reason. We chose the larger one of the upward paths, climb-
ed up the jogged ledge to the second floor.
We went back for a quarter of a mile and it seemed that the cave had
just begun. The rooms got larger and the passages smaller. Our attent-
ion was attracted by a large open space beyond narrow passage. Al-
though the passage was such that one had to lie on his side and slide
through it, we were curious enough to do so.
Just inside, something began to flit around our heads and give a little
squeal once in a while. These were cave bats. Looking closer we not-
iced that they hung thick on the top of the cave. On down we found a
path, worn slick by some animal, leading into a den. There were tracks
in the damp clay that resembled a cat’s tracks but we knew no cat would
venture back this far in the dark cave.
We amused ourselves a while by writing names and dates on the big smooth
walls with a carbide lamp. We noticed that our lamp was burning low and
started back for the out-of-doors again. We crawled back out again
thrilled by having explored our first cave and glad enough to be out-
side once more.
INFARES
By Edith Walters
Fifty and seventy-five years ago when young people got married the brides
family usually gave a big wedding dinner and the next day the groom’s
family gave an “infare dinner. A few years later “infare” was changed
to reception dinner. And a number of the newlyweds’ young friends us-
ually accompanied them from her father’s to his father’s home. Of course
they rode horseback unless there were enough buggies and they must have
had some good times too. Maybe a dozen couples of young folks all dress-
ed in their Sunday-best clothes would come riding up to the bridegroom
Page 31, Folk Tales of the Cumberlans
No full textA book of collected essays on life in the Appalachian mountains, created by the English Eleven students of Pikeville College, circa 1927.THE SINKING OF THE FAVORITE
By Edith Walters
This is a true story that I have heard my mother tell many times.
“Thirty-five years ago, 1879 arrived during a warm spell of weather that
just about equaled this winter. On new years’ peach trees were
blooming, “I had finished teaching my five months school and decided to
visit my aunt and cousins in Lawrence County.
“I left Pikeville in the afternoon of January 21st. on a steamboat, the
only way I travel in those days. When I arrived at Buchanan
at two A.M. the weather had become very cold and it was snowing. This
continued for several days. The Big Sandy froze over and boats could
not run. In the latter part of February the rain came, snow melted
the ice broke and Big Sandy went on a “boom” as the river men called it.
“I had a letter from home saying – ‘come home at once. Mother is sick.‘
We called Catlettsburg and made arrangements for a boat to stop. Just
after dark a steamboat whistled for that landing and we hastened to the
river. When it landed we learned it was the “Favorite”, one of the
oldest and smallest boats on the river. Being in a hurry to get home,
we get on board—Mrs. Burris Wright, and her brother from Praise, and
myself.
There was no “ladies cabin” on this boat so they took us to the Pilot
house where we had to sit up all night. A little after midnight we met
a steamboat coming from Pikeville and the captain-Rhodes Owens-called
to our pilot and told him he had better “tie up below Georges Creek and
wait for day light—there were some trees lodged in the river and ‘twas
dangerous.”
“Well, he didn’t tie up and between four and five A. M. I felt a dis-
tinct jolt and shudder. I said “Arent we on that tree now?” The pilot
didn’t answer the boat began tilting sideways and I asked if we were
turning over. The pilot said ‘yes.’
“Rose and I both started for the window but he told us to wait a minute
and he got out first. We made a second jump and Rose got out first
with me not far behind. We were standing by the pilot house saying,
“Where will we go?””What will we do?” We could hear the water running
into the fire and the steam was awful. The men were as frightened as
we were. Seconds seemed minutes. The old captain was sleeping in a
little room behind the Pilot House and he ran out and yelled, “come
this way.” We came toward him. Rose happened to be nearest him and she
was little, he caught her up and ran along the top of the boat till
he could lift her to another man who had already gotten out on the tree
top. There must have been two or three trees piled in there together.
When we got to the edge of the boat with Rose I was just behind him.
I had seen Dr. Gray as we went through the boat the night before so
I said, “Oh, Dr. Gray, where are you?” He answered from the tree top
and happened to be the man who was holding Rose on the tree. Captain
Davidson stood on that old leg and I sat on the edge of the boat roof
and he helped me off.
“The men who were in the main cabin and engine room climber stairs for
their lives, the boat sinking so quickly many of them were knee deep
in water.
“The Favorite had struck the body of one of those trees like a wagon on
a bank. Being old and rotten it broke in the middle and down it went.
Daylight found it with the Pilot House and rear end of the boat stand-
ing above the water and only the man-slightly injured. My trunk was
found three miles below the place where the Favorite sank.”
“The passengers and crew, about thirty or forty souls, were scattered
over those tree tops like chickens. “After day light men who lived on
the river bank brought a skiff and took us ashore.
“The farmers kept us and fed us until the next morning when another
larger boat came along and we got home without more trouble. I have
heard many different tales about our rescue and how men swam out with
us but we women never had our feet wet. The only persons who swam out
were two boys who became so frightened they jumped into the raging, ice
cold waters and swam ashore, which seemed almost impossible. No one
was drowned and only one man slightly injured
Folk Tales of the Cumberlans
No full textA book of collected essays on life in the Appalachian mountains, created by the English Eleven students of Pikeville College, circa 1927
Pikeville Collegiate Institute Women's Basketball
No full textLeft to right: Thelma Morgan, Bessie Riddle, Irene Spears, Miss Johnston (coach), Ora Hatcher, Lora Rogers
Pikeville College Cheerleading
No full textThese students are standing on the roof of Armington Science and Learning Center
Pikeville College Academy
No full textThe back of the image says, First Class P.C.A. - May 1911 -- (?) have the Bac-Sermon and Graduation Exercise in the (New) First Presby Church -- Class of 1911 - 4 girls, 4boys -- left standing - 1. Lillian R. Whitman (Hatcher), 2. Hazel Preston (Ball), 3. Mearl Flanery (Howerton), 4. Winnie Greer (Call); left sitting - 5. John Sowards (Ins. Co.), 6. Basil Pollett (Lawyer), 7. Alford Biggs (Doctor), 8. Eward Lewis (Eng) -- Given to Pikeville College 1989 by Betty Hatcher Weddle, daughter of Lillian Whitman Hatcher, Member of Class of 1911