Yale University Librarv (.1 HIS 'VHHMjfH '' H"i i; .' >')!' ',, iiil' 'I i r.u''^i ' illl''5 |:|. '!-*!•: •" 5(lg||,' «rfj,l lit- il;t;4* illl : ;#^^ ilfl i^.-tO Kt% '*i|ft iiiflllt Niil4 ¦ mt^ i# ^1 liii^ i# mil Mm lii iiyi WMi^i.^' r ¦¦:'-: :yyi^*'^ .Hi] iili-illiiu'iin; YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY C.wv.'iS --H-e Omg^.V^ yi ;;lrii:v''?-"*i:'*:i'-i' ^ ivf.4t«-: §i|[] • iLniBis^mr • ^901 lr"riiffiw>i Copyrighted, 1906, by WiLUAM Henry Haney. All rights reserved. Cincinnati: Roistltr Brothtrs, Printtri StS Walnut Strut /" / n / The Mountain People OF Kentucky. AN ACCOUNT OF PRESENT CONDITIONS WITH THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD IMPROVEMENT. BY WM. H. HANEY. CINaNNATI, OHIO. THK ROBBRT CI^ARKB CO, 1908. DEDICATED TO THE PROGRESSIVE SPIRIT OF THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE. 0^*8:6.-^6 YALE PREFACE. It is the purpose of this book to show existing condi tions in the mountains of Kentucky and the attitude of the people of this region toward the improvement of the con ditions affecting life and character. It is also hoped that the chapter on "Who They Are" will modify the views of the general public in regard to the origin of the Moun tain People and vindicate their good name against the careless charges so often made. The chapter on "Loca tion," dealing writh natural features and the lack of trans portation facilities, accounts for the retarded development; that on "Feuds" discusses the causes and magnitude and the present general tendency in feud districts toward con formity to law and order. The rapid progress of the Mountain People in spite of their disadvantages shows that they are responsive to the spirit of the age. Their future is most hopeful. If this book is of some importance in stimulating its readers to a higher plane of life, and in vindicating the name of the Mountam People, the aim of the author will have been achieved. (8) The writer would express his gratitude to Dr. George A. Hubbell, President of Williamsburg Highland Col lege, for encouragement in this work, and acknowledges his indebtedness for suggestions and assistance at many points in the preparation of the manuscript. He also expresses his hearty thanks to Messrs. May, Seale, Shadoin and a number of other friends for encourage ment and information. W. H. H. CHAPTERS, PAGE I. Who They Are 15 II. Location 37 III. Social Conditions 49 IV. Feuds 71 V. Industries 85 VI. Education— The Public School 1 03 VII. Education (Continued) — Secondary Education .. . 119 VIII. Politics 137 IX. Religion 157 X. Outlook 179 w ILLUSTRATIONS Opp.Page The Author ; FronlUpiece 1. Map 15 2. A Revoluticbary Veteran 20 3. Daughters of the Revolution 25 4. Family Group 40 5. Mountam Boys 46 6. Moonshine StiU 59 7. A Revenue Officer 63 8. Educators 75 9. Mountain Boys 87 1 0. Young Teachers 110 1 1 . Young Lawyers 1 39 12. Young Politicians 153 1 3. Rev. Harlan Murphy ]5& 1 4. Mountain Boys and Girls 1 85 (•) TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. WHO THEY ARE. Introduction. — Appalachian America. — Eastern Kentucky. — Area. — Population. — Standpoint of previous writers. — ^Aim of the author. For tlie Most Part of English Origin. — ^Virginia settlers. — Spots- wood's expedition. — Explorers reach Kentucky. — Dr. Thom as Walker. — Boone's trace. — Perils of journey. — ^Whitley. — Campbell. — Other early settlers. — English blood predomi nant. Large Scotch-Irish Element. — ^A credible people. — ^Why they came to America. — Settled in the Appalachians. — ^Authori ties on the ancestry. Huguenot and German Element. — ^A small per cent. Revolutionary Ancestry. — Mountain men m the Revolution. — Boone's Fort. — King's Mountain. — Crab Orchard. — Nearly five hundred pensioners. — Names m appendix. — Summary of the classes of early settlers. — The Mountain People gaining favorable recognition. CHAPTER II. LOCATION. Effect on the People. — Man a creature of environment. — Some traits of the mountain man. — Effect of the nature of the country on the early settlers. — Mountain characteristics. — 8 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Mountain Roads. — ^Tlieir condition. — ^A hindrance to develop ment. Value of Good Roads.< — Sentiment for good roads. The Spirit of the People. — Compared with the European. — Pros perity of the early settlers in the Ohio Valley. — ^Conditions due to the character of the country rather than to heredity. CHAPTER III. SOCIAL CONDITIONS. * Why "foreigners" have a misconception of conditions. — ^Three forms of social life. The Dance. — Only in certain localities. — Passing away. — "The set." The Party.— "Bean stringing". — Distinction between the party and the dance. — Party the most popular. The Social.— Heartily approved. — Except by some who object to "flinch". Marriage Customs. — A quiet affair. — ^The shiveree. The Church. — The extent of social life at church.-^The senti ment religious. "Moonshine". — Originated from early social life and physical conditions. — Early social life. — Moonshining in pioneer days. Attitude of the People toward Moonshine. — Public sentiment.-— The author's experience. — The rapid changes of conditions.—- The "still" passing away. Gambling. — ^The class that gambles. — Pastime game. — Public sentiment. — Outlook promising. TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. THE FEUDS. False ideas of origm of the feuds. — ^The ideas of some writers. — Recent writers have a different idea. — Kentucky's Motto. Cause of Feuds. — Remote: — Scotch. — Revolution. — Civil War. — Home Guards. — Direct: — Civil War. — Lax law. — Trivial affairs. — ^Avenge private wrongs. — Family ties. — Few engage in the feuds. — Quantrel's band. — Why checked. Civilization, Public Sentiment and the Feuds. — Feud district's reputation. — Names of the feuds. — Deeds of violence. — All Eastern Kentucky should not be judged by the few who en gage in the feuds. — Those who oppose and suppress feuds should be honored. — Not as bad as has been represented. — Example. — The bright side should be shown with the dark. — Religious institutions now in the feud districts. — How the "Civil War" in Bell County was quelled. — Law and Justice say that the Kentucky feud is no more. CHAPTER V. INDUSTRIES. Farmmg. — Importance. — Early farming. — Products. — A happy life. — Some customs. — Corn planting. — Com is "laid by."— - Harvesting. — Peculiar way of gathering pumpkins. — Prices of i»oducts. — Distance from market. 10 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Natural Resources. — ^Wealth of the mountains. — Oil Develop ment. — ^Wayne County. — Campton.— Standard and other foreign companies.— Coal development. — ^Veini from two to fourteen feet. — Underground coal.— Mining country for many years.'^Railroad development. — ^Timber industry an inducement.-^Much timber has been wasted. — People have begun to realize the value of their timber. — ^The need of roads and railways.-^Picture the future with proper development of these resources. — ^The problem of wise development. — Profit ing by mistakes. — ^A county now regrets blocking a railroad. —Industrial schools. — Berea and others. CHAPTER VI. EDUCATION. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. The Old Log Schoolhouse. — Distance to school. — ^The teacher. — The recitation. — Short term. The Modem School. — Furnished. — The deficiency. — Comparison widi the old. — ^The recitation. — Literary work. — Decoration of the schoolroom. — ^The playground. — ^The teacher. — ^The object of tesfching. — Illustration. — ^A good school. — ^A wide awake teacher. — Interested trustees. — ^Willing patrons. — In dustrious pupils. Outlook of the Public School. — ^The influence of higher institu tions is raising the standard of the public school.— Creating a sentiment for better schools. — ^The subscription school. — ^The TABLE OF CONTENTS 11 graded school. — Extension of the school term. — Advanced studies in the public school. — ^The High School Bill. — District school can be made a graded school. — Illustration. — The Kensee School. — Brilliant outlook for the public school. CHAPTER VII. EDUCA TION.— Continued. SECONDARY EDUCATION. Institutions. — High schools. — Normal schools. — ^Academies. — Founding of an academy under adverse circumstances. — Growth. — In number of students. — Departments. — Influence on the town. — On the surrounding country. — This institution (The Hazel Green Academy). — Other schools. — ^Aim. — Advantages of early training. — ^Why Massachusetts has been successful. — Mountain People interested in these institutions. Berea College. — Stands for the Mountain People. — Relation to the mountains. Attitude of the People toward Education. — Sentiment to place a good institution in the reach of all. — Progress of the last de cade. — Origin and growth of some of the institutions. — In terest sufficient to insure a continual success. CHAPTER VIII. POLITICS. Importance of political law. — ^Why politics are often corrupt. — The political demagogue. — Opposition to political corruption m Eastern Kentucky. — ^The election, 1905. — For the man. — 18 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The use of money in politics.— Ideas are changing. — ^The cus tom of electing representatives. — Detrimental to the interest of the mountams. — Story to illustrate. — Present tendencies toward political purity. — ^The value of true patriotum in poli tics. — Results of election in 1905. — Compared with the awakening in other states. — ^The battle for honest politics is still on. — Reward of honest politicians. CHAPTER IX. RELIGION. The Minister and the Meeting. — Reflections as he rides to church. His reception. — Some localities. — ^Wrong to pay the minister. The minister.— Mifrepresented. — ^The funeral.— Protracted. •—Revival.— Camp meeting.— Quarterly.— Association.—* Annual meeting.— Compensation of the minister. Missionary ichools.—Denominational.— Harmony of the churches. —Contribution for the minister,— Religious forces in the mountains.- Demands for service increases, as villages and towns spring up. The Anti-Saloon League.— Influence,— On Congress,— Temper- uice spirit of the mountains,— Temii^rance clubs. — Election. —Prohibition victory,- County Unit Bill.— The doom of whiskey. The Sunday school. — ^The superintendent. — Organization. TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 American Sunday school union. — ^Aim. — ^Work in the moun tains. — Hopeful. — ^The Y. M. C. A. — Introduced into the mountains. — In the towns. — ^And Christian institutions. — Need of permanent organization. The County Organization. — ^The hope for rural communities. CHAPTER X. THE OUTLOOK. Predict the future by the past conditions and present tendencies.— Early Mountain People loyal to the flag. — Resolute for vic tory. — Vincennes. — King's Mountain. — ^The spirit of prog ress stirs in their blood.— Outlook for industries. — Education. —Politics.— Religion. — Most hopeful. — Hindrances are be ing removed.— Eastern Kentucky will in the future contain large cities.— Builded by these men with hearts of oak and hands of iron.— The slavery of physical conditions is being removed,— We look to the future with cherished hopes. CHAPTER I. WHO THEY ARE. INTRODUCTION. In the Appalachian Mountains, adjacent to some of the oldest and most populous of our states, lies a little- known region, twice as large as New England or as large as the whole of the German Empire. It is five hundred miles long, two hundred miles wide, and beginning at the southern boundary of Pennsylvania extends in a south westerly direction through West Virginia, the mountain ous portions of Maryland. Virginia, North and South Carolina, Northern Georgia, Northern Alabama, East- em Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky. This vast region, seemingly forgotten until recent years, is now recognized as a distinct division of our Amer ican Union under the name of Appalachian America. To a certain extent similar conditions exist in all parts of this region, but this volume will treat only of Eastern Kentucky, which is familiarly known as the "Mountains of Kentucky." The highest mountains are the Pine and the 18 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Cumberland in the southeastern part of the state. The area of the thirty-five counties of this region is 12,954 square miles. The permanent settlement of this territory really dates from the year 1800, for at that date the mountain region was reported under the four names, Fleming, Floyd, Knox and Pulaski, with a population of 9.764; the population of the state at that time was 220,995. The population of the mountains in 1900 was 476,095; that of the whole state, 2,147,174. In this vast area, the negroes form only a small per cent, of the population, being in the aggregate 12,1 19, or about 2'/2 per cent, of the whole population. Of this number, 7,685 live in the seven counties having the larg est towns. Johnson County has only one negro and Elliott two, while nine others have less than 1 00 each. The difficulty of travel and natural barriers, from the first, made this a region of restricted travel and of great isolation; and progress, seemingly unheeded, swept for many years past the doorway leading to their homes. From the first there has been some development, and for the last decade this has been so rapid that this part of the state is attracting considerable attention. Conditions, how ever, are yet but little known, though a few magazine writers are fairly well acquainted with the land and the WHO THEY ARE 17 people. Some novelists have based their stories on the dialect and customs of the people and while they have produced interesting stories, have made a picture which is only partly true. Others, with slight knowledge and strong imagination, have magnified the stories of "feuds" and "moonshine" until the statements, taken as a whole, do not represent the true conditions, though sustained in many points by individual instances. Bom and raised in this region, the writer attempts to give conditions as they exist and tries to show the tendency of the people to better their conditions. He has no pur pose in this book but to promote the progress of his friends and neighbors in the mountain section, and to offer such incentives as will raise the social, industrial and religious standards. No question has provoked more discussion than the ancestry of the Mountain People. Some writers claim that their ancestry is reputable; others claim that "they are the descendants of convicts, who in the early days escaped from the prisons of other states and fled to the mountains for refuge." Realizing that the question in regard to the ancestry has not been satisfactorily settled. it will be our first task to investigate the origin of the Mountain People. 18 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY FOR THE MOST PART OF ENGUSH ORIGIN. Virginia was settled largely by people from the rural districts of England. They were an agricultural people, thrifty and industrious. The first settlement at James town in 1607 proved successful and as a result, immi grants came in flocks to seek their fortunes in the new world. In the seacoast region, there was soon a flour ishing English Colony; but the Blue Ridge, with an al most unbroken cham of towering mountains, was a barrier to the settlers, and for more tlian a century after the first settlement, there remained a strip of primeval forest, lying between the Virginia frontier and those blue peaks visible against the western sky. This barrier was thought to be impassable, but Spots- wood, the stalwart governor of Virginia, was not the man to rest content, not to know what was behind the rugged mountains which looked so defiantly on the set tlers who were gradually approaching them. In 1716, with a party of fifty gentlemen, with black servants, In dian guides and pack-horses, he made a memorable expe dition across the mountains and enbred the beautiful val ley which he named Euphrates — ^now the Shenandoah. After an enjoyable time and a successful exploration, the party returned. Although it was several years before the mountains were crossed again, yet the country was not forgotten. The seeds of western emigration were sown. WHO THEY ARE 19 Villages grew into towns along the seacoast and still Eastern Kentucky was separated from them by two par allel mountain ranges and two hundred miles of un peopled and almost impassable forests. Every new set tlement was made by a portion of these brave pioneers venturing in advance of the others, but keeping in touch with them and having their rear covered by the established colonies. Finally, settlers, in search of permanent homes, crossed the Blue Ridge, located in the inviting valley of the Shenandoah, and pushed their settlements toward the Cumberland Mountains. The more venturesome spirits made long hunting ex peditions. In 1 750, Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia, in command of a party, crossed the Cumberland Moun tains which he named, called the great pass, Cumberland Gap, and explored what is now Eastern Kentucky, reach ing the headwaters of the Kentucky River. Signs of previous hunters were found, and some indications that they had been there many years before. Thus the first visitors to this region were in search of game and of ad venture without any purpose of making permanent settle ments. Boone, in 1775, carved out a trace, now familiarly known as "Boone's trail," by way of Powell's valley. 20 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. Favorable stories were brought back by those who visited the new country and iinmigration increased every yean In 1779« there were five ferries maintained across New River in Southwestern Virginia, and the General Assembly fixed the toll at four cents for each horse ferried. This was a beneficent enactment because ferriage had been veiy high, and diiring the fall and winter of that year an un exampled tide of inunigrants entered Kentucky. These people left their comfortable homes and their native society and became pilgrims, seeking homes in a wilderness land, which trusty rifles alone could make se cure and the severest toil make habitable. They moved along this "wilderness road," a lonely and houseless path, often in great peril, knowing that a wild and cheerless land was before them. Cast your eyes back on that long pro cession of human beings, horses, cattle and other domestic animals, as it passes along a narrow defile, where, at places, all must hug closely to the overhanging cliff or tumble over the precipice and be dashed against the rocks, hundreds of feet below. Imagine men in front and be hind, leading or driving animals, and with ready rifle act ing as guard to ward off the hourly-expected attack of the savages. Behold them in the dead of winter, traveling two or three miles a day over the icy trace, almost impass- Gen. Hugh White, A Revolutionary Veteran. WHO THEY ARE 21 able, and in great danger of being frozen to death, or killed by the falling of their horses. See them at night, gathered around the camp-fire, eating a meal of wild meat and parched corn, and thinking of friends left behind. With such a picture, one can have some idea of the hardt ships endured and the courage maintained by these early pioneers. It was by this route and in this manner that most of the early settlers found their new homes. Little was known of the great western country and chance was as good as choice in selecting a site, so when Kentucky was reached, they began to separate and look for homes, some locating in the mountains and others con tinuing their journey to the blue-grass region. There are thousands of names, besides the historical proof, and many incidents which bear testimony to the good blood of the early settlers of Kentucky. It is related of Colonel William Whitley, that soon after marrying and setting up an independent establish ment, he told his wife that he had heard good reports of Kentucky and believed that they could make a better liv ing there with less hard work. "Then, Billy, if I were you I would go and see," was her quick reply, and actmg on this advice, they were both soon settled on the frontier. The desire for better homes, together with the migratory 22 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY instinct, induced many to turn their faces toward the Ken tucky wilderness with little more meditation than that of Colonel Whitley. This pioneer was borin in Virginia, was unknown to early fame, but grew to manhood en gaged in tilling his native soil. Possessed of the spirit of enterprise and love of independence, he rendered large service to the new state and was one of the most distin guished of those early pioneers whose adventurous deeds have cast the glow of romance over the early history of Kentucky. Whitley County was named in his honor. Bell County also bears testimony to the good blood of the Kentucky pioneers. In speaking of the war of 1812, Mr. Lewis P. Summers says: "Colonel James Campbell died in the service at Mobile, Alabama, and Colonel John B. Campbell fell at the battle of Chippewa where he commanded the right wing of the army imder General Winfield Scott. Both were sons of Colonel Arthur Campbell, 'the father of his coimtry.* Colonel Arthur Campbell himself died at his home, on the present site of Middlesboro, Kentucky, in the year 1811, and his body was buried at that place according to the direc tions of his will, which is on record at the county clerk's office of this county." Recently the grave of Colonel Campbell was discovered in an out-of-the-way place with an iron slab bearing the inscription: WHO THEY ARE 23 "Sacred to the memory of Colonel Arthur Campbell, who was bom in Augusta County, Virginia, November 3, 1 754, old style, and after a well-spent life, as his last moments did and well could approve, of sixty-seven years, eight months, and twenty-five days, ere a constitution, pre served by rigid temperance and otherwise moral and healthy, could but with reluctance consent. The lamp was blown out by the devouring effects of a cancer on the eighth of August, 181 1 , leaving a widow, six sons and six daughters to mourn his loss and emulate his virtues. "Here lies, entombed, a Revolutionary sage. An ardent patriot of the age. In erudition great, and useful knowledge to scan — In philanthropy hospitable, the friend of man. As a soldier brave. Virtue, his morality. As a commander, prudent. His religion, charity. He practiced temperance To preserve his health. He used industry to acquire wealth. He studied physic to avoid disease. He studied himself to complete his plan. For his greatest study was to study man. 84 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY His Stature tall. His person portly. His features handsome. His manner courtly. Sleep, honored sire. In the realms of rest. In doing justice to thy memoiy, A son is blest. A son is inheriting in full thy name. One who aspires to all thy fame. Colonel Arthur Campbell." Others wrought illustrious deeds, gaining for them selves name and place in the new region in which they settled. Col. John Fleming, Major George Stockton, Col. William Casey, Capt. Thomas Scott and scores of others have local reputation and honor. As has been said, Virginia was but a continuation of England — simply a society of the best people of rural England of the Shakespearian age, who left their homes and settled m Virginia to work out the problem of living under new conditions. And Kentucky, the daughter of Virginia, was only a continuation of that state — Eng- Ushmen once more transplanted to take upon themselves the responsibility of subduing the wilds and cultivating the soil of a wilderness. J^C\*r^-^ "'f)""'"!'"- -:<' -!»ir-'- — ^Y" »¦"" 'iiil;,'' ''i " ^^ "^^^''ol^^' 4, ¦"'¦' .i cv,. "V \ y ¦ J > \ '''x*- Ts, iifc^ ,^";;nv'H^ .^^¦^•¦••^' J ->; J' V, -^ ^"^v.J / 1/ WHO THEY ARE 2S The settlers of Eastern Kentucky, the descendants of these Englishmen of five and six generations, were amal gamated with other stock; nevertheless, the English blood is predominant in die Mountain People. Fortunately, the amalgamation was with the Scotch-Irish, a race which instilled into their veins a stream of blood which gave them greater courage, endurance and sturdiness to battle with the difficulties with which the pioneers of any coun try must contend. the large scotch IRISH ELEMENT. It is necessary to give here a jshort history of this Scotch-Irish people that it may be distinctly understood whether they were a desirable contribution to the moun tain region. Going back to the year 1 61 1 , we find James I of England, sending people from Northern England and Scotland to Ireland for the purpose of planting there a Protestant settlement strong enough to outnumber the Catholics and become the ruling element. Those who were selected for this purpose were of the most excellent sort. By the middle of the seventeenth century, three hundred thousand of them were living in Ulster, the most neglected part of the island. They soon transformed this wilderness of bogs and fens into a beautiful and culti- »« THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY vated garden, and also established manufactories of wool ens and linens which have become famous throughout the world. The dawn of the eighteenth century saw one million of them peacefully inhabiting the Irish domain. Of the yeoman and artisan classes, their intellectual and social standing was superior to any race at that time. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the percentage of illiteracy in Ulster was probably smaller than anywhere else in the world. "A document signed in 1718 by a miscellaneous group of 319 shows that 306 wrote their names in full while only 13 were left to make their mark." Protestants of the Protestants, they detested the very name of Catholics whom their forefathers had conquered, and regarded the Episcopalians, by whom they them selves had been oppressed, with an intense hatred. Un der such treatment, they naturally became a determined people, fitted to take upon themselves the responsibilities and to undergo the hardships incident to life in a new country. WHY THEY CAME TO AMERICA, The flourishin|( factories which their ingenuity had es tablished rivaled those of England and excited her jeal ousy. Consequently she passed a law in 1698 which WHO THEY ARE 27 seriously injured the Irish linen and woolen industries and many workmen were thrown out of employment. About this time, also, England began her violent Church per secutions caused by the reactions of the Counter Reforma tion, This and the war with France caused intolerance to become more severe. Marriages by their own clergy men were declared void; they were not permitted to send their children to school, and their liberty was restricted by depriving them of the right to hold office. Their rights were restricted in many other ways. This inhuman treat ment was endured for many years in the vain hope that it would cease. Deprived of their vocations and liberties, they began to come to the New World in large numbers. During one week of the year 1 727. six ship-loads landed on our shores. It is estimated that from 1730 to 1770, half a million of these sturdy Scotch-Irish found homes in our favored land. In 1773 and 1774, 30,000 came over and during the Revolution they constituted one-sixth of our entire population.* The largest numbers landed at Philadelphia and Charleston. Those who landed at Philadelphia gradu ally made their way through the Appalachians to the Southwest. Those who landed at Charleston pushed into •Fiike'A "Old Virginb and Her Nelglibort," p. 394- R8 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY these mountains from the South. Others, who landed in the Carolinas and Virginia, pushed past the English set tlements and began to colonize at the foot of the moun tains. They soon displayed their love for independence and adventure by pushing westward and organizing strong settlements at Eaton Station on the Watauga, on Wolf Fork, and on the Cumberland. From these settlements in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, Eastern Kentucky received a number of settlers. Among the rugged hills, covered with an unbroken forest and amidst iron surroundings, they took root and flourished. They were as a barrier, thrust in between the English colonies on the seaboard and the French on the north and the savages m the wilderness. "Though mingled with the descendants of other races, they were nevertheless the predominant stock which formed the kernel of this distinctively American race who were the pioneers of our people in their westward march, — the vanguard of the army of fighting settlers who with ax and rifle made their settlements in the mountains."* Fiske, in speaking of the Scotch-Irish, says: "A few of them came to New England where they have left their mark, but the great majority of them came to Pennsyl- •Rpoisvslt's "Wlnnlni ol ths Wtst," VoL I, p. io«. WHO THEY ARE B9 vania and occupied the mountain country west of the Sus quehanna. Thence a steady emigration was kept up south westerly along the Appalachian axis into the Southern colonies." Speaking of the Ulster stream, he says: "From the same prolific hive came the pioneers of Ken tucky and Tennessee with their descendants through the Mississippi and beyond." This last statement by Fiske and the one by Roose velt indicating that the Scotch-Irish people were the real pioneers of Kentucky, are true; yet they do not mean that the Scotch-Irish blood is predominant to-day. The year 1782 found about four thousand inhabitants in what is now Kentucky. The majority of them were located in the central part of the state and were the brave pioneers, Scotch-Irish hunters of Virginia and North Carolina. About that time various causes induced the pioneers to turn toward Kentucky. The migratory instinct, the op portunity to pay for land in depreciated currency, the at tractiveness of the fair land and genial climate, and the natural land hunger, together with the large land grants by Virginia, swelled the tide of emigration. In the year 1 783, there was an increase of 8.000; in 1 784, of 8,000; and in 1785. of 10,000; and from 1785 to 1790, an increase of nearly 40,000. 30 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The principal route to Kentucky after 1 783 was no longer the narrow, winding, dangerous path by the way of Cumberland Gap, but down the placid Ohio. The best authorities* on the sources of Kentucky's population say that more than one-half of the immigrants came from Virginia. The states furnishing the next largest numbers were North Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Quoting Shaler: "Probably more than half of this blood was of North English and Scotch extraction ; practically the whole of it was of British stock." After 1 783 the immigration no longer consisted of settlers from the back woods of Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland, but largely from the upper class Virginians, and by 1 796, the control of Kentucky had passed out of the hands of the pioneers.t Since the Scotch-Irish were the early pioneers and the eastern part of the state was not settled until after this high-class tide of English im migration, it is evident that English blood, and not Scotch-Irish, as some writers claim, is predominant in the veins of the Kentucky Highlanders. The great number of Mc's which are signs of the Irish name; the English names such as Allen, Baker, Campbell, Hazelwood and Chrisman ; the songs of both ¦Shaler; Collins; Smith; Battle, Perrin and Knlffin. tRoosevelt, "Winning of the West," Vol. I. p. 314. WHO THEY ARE 81 English and Scotch origin which have been retained in families for generations; and the reminiscences of the aged fathers, many of whom can trace their ancestry to the Old Country, have weight in establishing the origin of the Mountain People. Whichever strain is predominant, it is evident that the amalgamation of races produced a peo ple who are converting a mountain wilderness into a coun try of respectable homes, schools and churches. huguenot AND GERMAN ELEMENTS. Along with the English and Scotch-Irish, there were a number of French Huguenots who came to escape relig ious persecutions in France, The Huguenots were those who rebelled against Catholicism and to escape persecu tion, sought refuge in America. The names of Chasteen, Gastineau, and Shadoin are among those which com memorate a Huguenot ancestry. There also came to the Appalachian region a few Swedes and Germans, but those who came to Eastern Kentucky would probably not compose more than two per cent, of the entire population. REVOLUTIONARY ANCESTRY. At the time of the Revolution, the mountain region was already tracked by frontiersmen and hunters who became the ancestors of many of our Mountain People. 82 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY It is well known that Daniel Boone and his brother. Squire Boone were camping in Madison County, just before the outbreak of the Revolution. Boone's fort was planted on the Kentucky River at the foot of the moun tains, a few miles from that hill from which he first looked to the Northwest on the goodly valley of the blue-grass. It was a good specimen of the forts built by the settlers to protect their families from the Indians. Here he was actually besieged by Indians under command of a Brit ish officer, who demanded Boone's surrender in the name of King George. So Madison County, Ky., may claim the honor of an early conflict in the Revolutionary War. The mountain men in general fought for the inde pendence of their country by fighting the Indians, for it was the policy of the British to stir up these savages to attack the Americans. The heroism of the frontiersmen, whose settlements extended along the western edge of the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee, is a part of the nobie annals of the Revolutionary War. But it was not alone in Indian warfare that our Moun tain People distinguished themselves in the Revolution. Historians of recent years are recognizing the importance of the battle of King's Mountain. This was one of the most important battles of the war, for on it seemed to WHO THEY ARE 83 hinge the fate of the colonies. The British had recap tured Georgia, and after many hard-fought battles, had gained possession of the whole of South Carolina. Corn wallis with a large army, heavily re-enforced by Hessians, Tories and Indians, had already marched into the "Old North State," (North Carolina) and it seemed that no force could be mustered to check his career. His officers were carrying on a warfare which would have put to shame savage cruelty. They permitted their men to plun der homes, maltreat prisoners, and hang without mercy all who were suspected of being in sympathy with the Americans. But the hearts of the colonists were glad dened by a rumor that an army was on its way to meet the British. This army had been hastily organized from the settlers of the Cumberland and Holston Settlements in Eastern Tennessee, the Watauga in Western North Carolina, and from Crab Orchard and other settlements on the Kentucky frontier. The British, on hearing of the coming of this army of mountain men, stationed themselves on the top of King's Mountain. Here they were attacked by the men with flint-locks, who charged up the hill, heedless of com rades who, cut down by the fire of the British, fell from the ranks. They pushed into the British lines and after a short hand-to-hand fight, the British fled toward York- 34 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY town where they finally surrendered. This victory was of far-reaching importance and ranks with the decisive battles of the Revolution. It was the first success of the Americans in the South and it brought cheer to the hearts of the patriots throughout the Union. Immediately after the war, the mountain region re ceived many new settlers, a large number of whom had served in the Revolutionary armies. A convincing>proof of the number of these settlers is found in the three vol umes of reports made to the United States Senate in 1 834, embracing a list of all who were drawing pensions for services in the Revolutionary armies, with the regiments in which they served and the places of residence. Com paring these statements with a map of Kentucky, showing the county lines in 1 834, it is easy to trace the volume of settlement of Revolutionary heroes in our mountain coun ties. Among the invalid pensioners then residing in Mad ison County, we find the name of Squire Boone, brother of the more famous Daniel Boone. In the sparsely settled mountain regions of Kentucky, we actually find in 1 834 nearly 500 Revolutionary pen sioners. The greater number are listed as having served in the Virginia Line, but Maryland, North Caroline;, Pennsylvania and even Kentucky are represented. The companies bear picturesque names, as Buford's Artillery, WHO THEY ARE 86 Croghan's Kentucky Militia, Lee's Dragoons, Washing ton's Light Guards. Congress Regiment. These titles make the Revolution seem real and near. Such evidence warrants us in stating that Kentucky owes most of the remarkable intellectual development of her early history to the Revolutionary soldiers. At the close of the Revolution in 1 781, many strong, intellectual and cultivated officers and soldiers of the war came from the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, and sought to retrieve the fortunes shattered by the war in the new and promising land of Kentucky. Every ambitious spirit; every man who had within him the sense of power necessary for the arduous work of facing the dangers of the wilderness, sought these new fields. So important was the soldier element in the early life of Ken tucky, that the state may truly be said to be the offspring of the Revolution. Sixty years after the war had closed, one would ex pect to find but few of the sturdy old patriots still living, but the hardships of the long period, disease, and even Indian vengeance had not called them all from among their fellowmen; and not a few survived whose names had never been on the pension rolls, for with the spirit of independence so characteristic of those early times, many absolutely refused pensions, declaring that they 86 THE MOUNTAIN PBOBLB OP KENTUCKY could support themselves and would not be dependent for even a portion of their living upon a country whose libert]^ they had fought to gain and which they would make yet greater sacrifices to preserve. Before 1830, pensions were granted only to those who were perma nently wounded and invalid. Many Mountain People will reflect with pride on the name of a grandfather or great grandfather whose name bore an honored place in the roll of the Revolutionary soldiers; so I give in the appendix a few of the names from the pension rolls of 1840. To review the story briefly, the Mountain People are descendants of creditable English stock with a sprinkling of the best blood of the Scotch-Irish, Germans and French Huguenots. The larger portion of them can point to honorable Revolutionary ancestry. Many of the eariier pioneers, including not a few leaders, founded families which took root in the land and flourish to this day, and the descendants of the earlier Indian fighters became men of worth and use in the church and state, and the later generations stood as officers in the recent war between the states. In the early history oi a country, particularly where there is special danger, there is need for men of the finest qualities of heart and hand, and the early set tlements of Eastern Kentucky demanded and received such men as truly as did the settlements of our great west. CHAPTER II. LOCATION. EFFECT ON THE PEOPLE. From a description of the surface, climate and min erals of a country, the scientist can, to a great extent, de termine the nature of the soil, the growth of the timber and the characteristics of the people. This is only the scientist's method of illustrating the great law of nature: man is a creature, shaped largely by the influence of his surroundings. But the statement that the nature of the soil and the topography largely determine the habits and customs of the people, scarcely needs an argument. Rear a family of children under the same roof until they reach the "teens" and observe the change in habits of thought, ac tion, and characteristics when they have removed and lived for a while in different localities. Those who dwell in cities where the facilities for education and social de velopment are good, differ from those who lead a country (8T) 88 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY life; those who dwell in the rich and fertile valleys differ from those who mhabit the higher lands where the soil is poor, the population sparse and opportunities for improve ment are meager. Not only is this a fair illustration of the difference between the Mountain People of Kentucky and the in habitants of the mora.^ favored regions of our state, but the same is true of the difference between the characteris tics of the people of the plains and the "Rockies" of the west, the highlands and the lowlands of Scotland and continental Europe, the coast region and the interior of the Philippines, and in fact this contrast can be made be tween the people of the lowlands and highlands of any country on the globe. The highlander, from the lack of opportunity, is less educated than the dweller in the valley, but he is more independent, and this independence causes him to think for himself and cultivate the judgment and the skill neces sary to successfully carry on his own business. This in dependence and self-reliance invests him with a rash temper which impels him to resent an insult with unfailing promptitude. From his seclusion he unavoidably loses sight of the progressive social changes of the age, and his customs and speech, which are handed down through generations, become "old time" and seem peculiar to city- LOCATION 89 reared people; but from his plain and simple manner of living, he cultivates a generous and hospitable spirit ap proached by no other people in the world. Behind all these characteristics of the mountain man, the one most to be admired is his deep and intense nature which knows no discouragement, — ^no side track or road for retreat from his cherished goal. It is an historical fact, that the men with muscles of iron developed by holding the plow to the steep hillside or swinging the ax in the forest, are the men who have shared largely in shaping the destinies of nations. One of the chief ways in which the character of the country and the location affect the lives of a people is in the matter of transportation facilities. The people who settled in the Ohio valley and In the middle west found a comparatively smooth surface which lent itself readily to the construction of good roads, ^hose who came to Eastern Kentucky, on the other hand, found a rugged mountainous country which made the construction of good roads very difficult. As a natural result, the former regIoi\s, with their fine macadamized roadways, developed with great rapidity, while the progress of Eastern Ken tucky has been greatly retarded by the lack of good roads and other means of communication. *0 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY MOUNTAIN ROADS. The only roads in the mountains are the dirt roads. While they are a great improvement over "Boone's Trace," yet there is quite a resemblance. As Boone's trace was cut through the winding defiles of the moun tain passes, so the mountain road follows the stream to the source, crosses the hill at the lowest gap and turns down the source of another stream. It is difficult for him who drives a rubber tired carriage drawn by a pair of thoroughbreds over a macadamized road, or daily walks the pavement, rides in a street car or spins in an automobile about the city, to conceive the disadvantages of moun tain travel and transportation. In these creek beds, the roads are fairly good during the dry season and one may travel for a considerable distance without crossing a steep hill ; the bicycle has been introduced and buggies are used to some extent, but the chief mode of travel is on horseback, and the transportation is carried on by the road-wagon drawn by horses, mules and sometimes oxen. and in the dry season, fairly good loads can be drawn. But during the rainy season, the mud becomes deep, the streams swollen, and wagoning and travel are often im possible. It is a pitiful scene to behold a team of horses or oxen hitched to a wagon loaded with grain, coal, crossties, or F"^- .'.%s.:.-}..'.f-:i^ii..^~'^.--.-.-^^,.3.^^.^.^{^-'^^A^.^!^'^^'^^'4h=ir^^/^^ ..irt' ,,i--S / -r^' ^n ¦'v^^' .¦¦^^.ja..^.J^^iii-i,'i^i,'i-'r-,-iiii-iMTr-i-- ¦^^.^.^J-w-,¦-t..»^^>^^^^^^^^t?^-:^^-^^^.¦.^^&s-^ Jas. W. Haney. Mrs. Jas. W. Haney. Harlan Haney. Floyd Haney. Wiluam Haney. LOCATION 41 lumber, struggling in the mud with the wheels sunk to the axle. See the driver cocix the team which rarely fails, when called upon, to exert every muscle to move the load, but when once a horse "balks." he may depend upon a severe beating until he Is willing to pull. The ox or mule rarely balks, hence the expression — "steady as a mule." Under such circumstances, watch the mud-be spattered team with tired limbs and panting breath at tempt to draw the load until one perhaps sinks in the mire and must be assisted by digging or shoveling the mud away. Such has been and is now in many places the con dition of the mountain roads. VALUE OF GOOD ROADS. The development of every country or region of which we know the history has always been in proportion to its means of transportation and travel. Water-ways have served the purpose, and Greece, Italy, Spain and Great Britain owe their early greatness to coast lines that al lowed commerce to reach almost every part. In our own country, the Atlantic coast, the St. Law rence and Great Lake regions and later, the Mississippi Valley near the great rivers were settled up and became wealthy far in advance of the sections where no boats or 42 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY ships could touch. But the interior growth of any coun try has only kept pace with the building of good roads. When the old Romans conquered a province they threw up great highways across it and built them so well that some of those old roads, built in the time of our Savior, are traveled today. But in the natural routes of trans portation the mountains of Kentucky are deficient. This retards development. A white oak tree on a mountain bench may cut as fine logs as ever went to market, but what is the value of that tree where it grows? The first twelve-foot cut would be worth $10.00 at the railroad, and the second cut $10.00, but they are not there. Eight miles of terrible road lie between, and by the time the logs reach thci track $16,00 has been used up in transportation, leav ing only $4.00 for the tree that has grown two hundred years. Over a good road the logs could have been hauled to the railroad for $8.00, leaving $12.00 for the tree. The other $12.00 is the tax paid to the bad road. Over the same road comes a load of crossties, or what is called a load, for twelve ties is all that the mules can pull. Twenty ties would have been an easy load over a good road. Eight more ties at 1 lYi cents each would have given our teamster a dollar more for his trip, or EDUCATORS. William B. Barker. £s-Siq)erintendent of Schools Morgan County. Prof. Noah May. Magoffin Coontjr. LOCATION 48 would have added five cents to the price of each of the twenty ties. A dollar has been dropped again as toll to the bad road. And so we might go on with the story of bark, shin gles, lumber, potatoes, fruit; anything that the farmer has to sell. Then take the other side and consider the cost of freighting goods from railroad points to mountain stores and homes. Every barrel of sugar, sack of coffee or flour, bale of cloth, case of shoes, every keg of nails, bolts or horse shoes, the stove for cooking the food and the dishes upon which the meal is spread, all furniture and farming tools, mills to cut the lumber, glass for the win dows, paint if they don't do without ; all these things and the many we have not time to name must pay this tax to bad roads in the shape of enormous freight bills, high in summer; doubled in winter. The most opulent toll-gate company in the world never dreamed of collecting toll like this, yet the patient mountain farmer pays it year after year without hope of relief. But all of this is only the commercial side of the mat ter. Think of the days lost from school when little chil dren cannot cross the swollen streams, and think how dif ficult it often is to reach the post office or attend church 4* THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY and Sunday School services or social gatherings among neighbors, — ^how the very Hfe and interest of the com munity has a heavy weight fastened to it, compelled to go about like a criminal with a ball and chain to his leg, by this condition of bad roads. The present arrangement for the repairing of roads and the construction of new roads, is not satisfactory. The overseer whom the county judge appoints to take charge of a certain section of road, often neglects to "warn" the hands and the roads are not worked. The condition is due largely to the fact that no one receives compensation for his work. Should each county vote a road tax and the roads be let out in sections to the lowest bidder, the roads would not fail to be made good. The men without property who really do the work would pay a poll tax only and the remainder would come from the propierty of the wealthier class. The poor man would then receive pay for his work instead of working for nothing as he does under the present system. Hence the road tax is very much in favor of the poor man as the compensation for the work, which he now does gratis. would doubly pay his share of the taxes. This method for the improvement of the roads is being considered by the people and, it is to be hoped, will meet with favor. The adoption of this method will build good roads in LOCATION 46 the mountain counties. Good roads will increase the value of mountain farms and add greatly to the pros perity of the country. We should have a Good Road Club in every county. We should make a study of the road material, of the routes possible for easy grades, of the cost per mile of good roads; and how many miles we could build a year if we saved the toll we now pay to bad ones in high freight rates and loss of prices on prod uce. Then, when the people are ready for it and full of enthusiasm, we should have an election that would vote the road tax and build each year as many miles of good permanent road as the local labor can handle. THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE. The internal fire that was kindled in Europeans by the spirit of the Rennalssance and the French Revolution, which gave them courage, daring and resolution to seize vigorously the opportunity of enlisting in the cause of American colonization, is now being kindled in the moun tain Kentuckian by the development of natural resources. — such as timber, oil and coal, — and by the progressive spirit of moral and intellectual education which is being vigorously pushed by Christian organizations, and by lo- 46 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY cal support. The powers which have for want of op portunity been dormant in the Mountain People, are ade quately rising to meet the requirements of the industrial and educational movement just as tlie maritime spirit of England, France, Spain and Holland rose to the ocr casion when the spirit of the age whispered that the ocean must be crossed and the foundation of a new nation be laid. But the greatest proof that the mountain youth is not becoming indolent or careless of life is his own daily record. I shall not go into details of the record which he is making in the college, normal, and industrial schools which he chances to enter, or tell of the progress and prospects of our young graduates, but will pass the sub ject by saying that the mountain youth when he once has an opportunity to develop his latent powers, is not easily surpassed in the classroom or workshop. On opposite page is a picture of some mountain boys whose records are typical of the young manhood of Eastern Kentucky which once finds the college walls. It is difficult for one who is not acquainted in this region to understand why conditions are such, but it is a simple question for one who has lived here and who has compared conditions with other countries. |PI>|)ji|jgLiij;w|iM»i.i;iiUAa^ii^llHi,j«i8.;i;.i.,it.j^iw^wi^^ X, i>~iiiTiiltitri'^--''''™''''^-miiWimTint<'^-'-^"^|'^™"^'''''-'^''^ — '¦¦"-^'^- ,¦>/.. j-n-a^ Mountain Boys. LOCATION 4!J It is apparent that this sturdy stock which settled in the mountains became victims of a condition that men of iron could hardly hope to control. They waited long for outside relief to sever their isolation and unlock the stores of wealth which were hidden in timber, oil, coal, and other natural resources. Once across the mountains, the tide of emigration swept rapidly onward and in a few years, homes were established on the western coast where the pioneers could look out on the broad expanse of the great Pacific. The elevating influence which comes from a favorable community, with proper environments, has brightened the homes of the descendants of these fortunate pioneers, while a struggle for existence has been the lot of those who were caught in this eddy, locked up in the mountains. They are shut in! The onward march of civilization has been checked by rocks and hills eman ating from all sides. The waves of progress washed all around the confines of this unfortunate region, this vast Saragasso; a dead sea surrounded by an ocean of life. A race of thrifty people planted amidst such sur roundings reminds us of the parable of the sower, where the seed fell among thorns and the tender plants Ccune up and were choked out. Had not these pioneers brought resolution, courage and an indomitable will which people of the best traits alone possess, their descendants would 48 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY have become discouraged and left the country a rocky wilderness as they found it. But in a comparatively short time, they have in a large degree, subdued this vast wil derness, and at present, civilization is moving forward at such a rate that communities which a few years ago were considered savage, now have business facilities and modem conveniences. Since the ablest writers on the subjects attribute nine- tenths of the characteristics of a people to environment, it is reasonable to believe that the conditions in the mountains of Kentucky are due to physical environment rather than to heredity. This condition points not to lack of intellect but to lack of opportunity. CHAPTER III. SOCIAL CONDITIONS. To understand the social conditions of the mountains, one must go back to the standards and customs of Revo lutionary days and trace_die^effe^cijQf.isplation_pn_social life. "Characterization is always in danger of becoming caricature in the description of a peculiar people, and much has been written of these Highlanders which has become caricature."* This is especially true of their social conditions. Careful study is required to under stand them even imperfectly. Prevailing localisms have attracted the attention of some writers and a few par ticular instances have been made the basis of assumed general conditions which do not exist, for example, the "feuds" which will be discussed in the next chapter. The customs of the people, with a sweeping use of the dialect, have been largely used in story form to show mountain conditions. Some interesting boo!:s have been written which are very good expositions of the social con ditions of the uneducated classes. The story writer must •CASS. J. Rydsf. W THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY have striking material and he brings into bold relief pe culiarities to make an interesting narrative. This gives a good story but not a trustworthy history of social con ditions. One might as well expect a true story of dty life with material selected from the slums as a true rep resentation of mountain Hfe as set forth in many mountain stories. There is no quarrel with the mountain story, but one ought not to class it as history. It is true that conditions in the mountains^differ from conditions in a city or in a more developed country, and itjsjioticeabtcm the customs andespecially in die dialect. The eariy mother tongue is still used in the remote locali ties; it has been handed down for generations with little changes. Every region tends to develop' a dialect by emphasis upon the peculiarities of language and the moun tain people are no exception, but Wm. I. Thomas gath ered in some months' residence in the Cumberlands a list of three hundred obsolete words since the early part of the sixteenth century or now surviving only in the dialect of England. Strong Saxon words such as "hit" for "it" and "holp" for "help," bear additional testimony to the English descent of our ancestors. Stories of the feuds, social conditions, and other pe culiarities have brought the name of this section before the public, and many visitors have come to this region, not SOCIAL CONDITIONS 61 so much for the purpose of investigation, as to acquaint themselves with these peculiar conditions. The "for eign"* guests who are always welcome, seek lodging in the poorest homes, and have wonderful and interesting stories to relate of the customs, poverty and lawlessness. From such sources and from newspaper reporters, the public has learned of this region. The visitors, good men. often Christian gentlemen, are sincere in their ac counts, but they see only one side of mountain life. Eight, from a class of ten College students in a little town at the foothills, were surprised to hear of a mountain academ}), although they were familiar with the stories of lawless ness, feuds, and bloodshed. They represented the states of Indiana. Ohio, Connecticut and New York, and some of them frankly said that when they reached this town they expected to see men carrying revolvers and shooting each other down in the streets. They were agreeably surprised with the peace and good order of the region. However great the misrepresentations have been, they do not change conditions. It is true that not only in this section, but in all Appalachian America, there still exist social customs which are now obsolete in other parts of the country. These so-called peculiar customs which *Tboie living outside this region. 68 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY have been interesting to foreign visitors ' have been handed down through generations. There are three di»' tinct forms of social gatherings. THE DANCE. This form of social life is confined to certain localities and patronized by a small proportion of the people. The majority of the parents, and the young people who do not dance, believe that it is a sin to attend such a social gathering; so in the eyes of the people, a youth forfeits his religion when he attends a dance. In some of the larger towns the dance is regarded in a similar way to that of other towns and cities, but the best country people of the mountains do not "believe" in the dance, and this form of social life is passing away.* 'The tuning of the fiddle and banjo is the signal and inspiration to start a game which is introductory to the "Set." "Snap" is usually the first game. A young man and young lady "holds up," i. e., they stand in the middle of the floor while the boys and girls cliase each other alternately around them. The young lady and young gentleman exchanging places consecutively with the one who is caught. Thus the game goes on while the music to "Cripple Creek" or "Love Somebody," furnishes merriment for all. This game is soon over and the partners are on the floor for the first "set." "Hook and Line," the favorite tune is now called for and the violin and banjo walk enthusiastically side by side. The following is an extract from the "call:" "Eight hands up and go to the left; half and back; comers turn: partners 'sash-i-ate.' First four, forwards and back; forward again and cross over: forward and back and home you go. Gents stand and ladies swing in the center; own partners and half Vash-fate.' "Eight hands and gone again; half and back; partners bv the right and opposite by the left — 'Sash-i'ate' Right hands across and bowdv do; left - and back and how are you? Opposite partners, half 'sasb-i-ste' ana go to the next: etc.," for each couple. "All hands up and go to tbe left,— hit the floor,— comers turn and 'sash- i-ate.' First couple cage the bird with three arms around. Bird hop out and hoot owl in; three arms around and hootln' agin. Swing and circle four. ladles change and gents tbe same; right and left; the shoo-fly swing, etc.,'* for each couple. The dance goes on for an hour and by this time sU are rerjr tired. A short rest is now taken and a fresh fiddler entertains the crowd by playing snd talking off the "Arkansas Traveler." SOCIAL CONDITIONS 68 THE PARTY. Invitations are extended to an "apple peeling." "bean stringing." or a "carpet tacking." It is understood that the social gathering, after the work is finished, is to be in the form of a "party" and not a dance. Some of the dancers of the neighborhood are not invited, and those who are, do not ask for a "set." The apples are peeled and the room made ready for the games. Music is not so abundant as at the dance, or "ho-down," but there is often the violin, or banjo and sometimes both which furnish music for the happy band as they work some and chat a great deal. The musician be comes inspired and the music more inspiring as the merry party forms a circle for the games.* . * This kind of social life meets more general approval than the dance, yet there are some parents who do not permit their daughters to attend, especially where games are played in which it is necessary to skip over the floor. The writer has known a large crowd, assembled on the evening of a "working," to divide into two parties, the dancers and non-dancers, and to use the floor turn about. The most hearty good will prevailed. This shows a clear distinction between the party and the dance. •"Needle's Eye," "Thimble," "Boston," "We Fish Who Bite," "Who, Where, What," "Dan Tucker," "Grin and Go Foot" and "Good Night." 64 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY THE SOCIAL. Written invitations are extended to ' a number of friends requesting their presence at the social. Here are gathered the most refined young people of the community and an evening is spent which would be creditable in any country. Some quiet games, such as "Flinch" and "Pit" are played. At intervals there is music on the organ ac companied by singing in which the entire company joins. The songs are strictly religious. The refreshments served, are usually fruits, but sometimes at the close of the social the hostess is heard to say, "get your girls," and that is the signal to march out in couples to the dining room where a hearty repast is served. This late hour lunch is enjoyed to the fullest extent. This form of social life is approved by all except a few who maintain that "Flinch" is too much allied to card-playing. MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. The wedding is a quiet affair with only a few pres ent. The ceremony is short. The bride and groom, hav ing received the congratulations of the small group, ac companied by the "waiters," (the best man and the bridesmaid) the young couple immediately set out for SOCIAL CONDITIONS 55 the home of the groom, where a bountiful supper has been prepared for them and where a group of friends are waiting to extend to them a hearty welcome. The newly married couple are the center of attraction and they must endure the witty jokes of all. The groom accepts everything in the best of humor, and the inspira tion of the occasion sharpens his wit and he has a reply for most of the jokes meant for him. The blushing bride has not much to say, although she enjoys the occasion as she looks with pride upon her young husband and dreams of future happiness. TTie boys of the neighborhood have been busy several days collecting old bells, horns, bugles, drums, fifes, mak ing rattle-traps and notifying friends for miles around of the occasion. About nine o'clock one of the small boys warns the wedding group by the jingling of a sheep bell. When he has made the circuit of the house and informs the crowd that the way is clear, the leader, by the "toot" of a large hunter's horn, announces "ready" and the "shiveree" is on. The boys have started in full chase around the house, and a volume of miscellaneous music is distinctly heard for miles around. The rattle of the bells, the hoarse voice of the drum, the shrill notes of the fife, the commanding voice of the bugle, the continuous din of the horns, the 66 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY thunderous noise of the rattle-traps, the whines, barks, and howls of angry and excited dogs that have joined Dash and Towser, which have been turned loose, mingled with the deafening shouts of the boys, constitute an hour's program. The serenade stops and the boys are invited in and enjoy a good treat at the expense of the groom. Nothing immoral occurs at the shiveree and while this is an old time custom, the young people delight in this manner of celebration and the old folks have no ob jection to it. THE CHURCH. Some people have an idea that it is customary to make church day in the mountains a social occasion. This is true here only to the extent that it is in other country dis tricts. From various directions, the people come early, meet friends, shake hands and converse about friends, crops, business, etc., before church time. But this is customary in all rural communities where everybody knows everybody else and where it is impossible to have city regulations in regard to time. In the city the people are hurried off by the ringing of the bell and have only time to be in their seats when the bell ceases to toll which is the signal for services. This, cannot be done in the SOCIAL CONDITIONS 67 country. But the social at the country church house is over when the song announces that the worship has begun. The Associations, Quarterly and Annual meetings which will be spoken of in the chapter of religion are used still more as places for social gatherings, for it is impossible for the hundreds of people who gather on such occasions to assemble in a position to hear the preacher. Many young people are not particular about hearing anyway since they delight in coupling off and finding seats in the buggies, which are drawn near the grounds or perhaps under some friendly tree. Others are walking about, meeting friends, and gathering in groups about a lemonade stand or a fine large watermelon. At a respectful distance from the meeting ground, the horse "jockeys" are assembled. While this does not interfere with the meeting, yet it is undesirable and it is gratifying to know that Sunday trading at such places is passing away. From these customs the mountain church service is often described as a social affair and a place for sport. Because there is a horse "swap" within a quarter of a mile of church services and some young people en joying a quiet social time, not in anyway disturbing the worship, it is charged up to a large and earnest band of Christians, who are deeply interested in the worship. 68 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY "MdONSHINE" Originated from Early Social Life and Phjfsical Conditions. A few decades ago there were only a few families in the mountains. Those families were m small groups and these groups often separated by miles of unbroken forest. Here among these native forest-covered hills, the profound silence was broken only by the hoot of an owl, the cry of the panther, or the war whoop of the savage. Excluded from society, with neither schools nor play mates for the children, it is not strange that these people cultivated habits different from those who lived in more favored portions. The husband swung the ax in the forest or pursued the game in the solitude of the wilder ness, while the wife attended the household duties and sang lullabies to the child in the cradle. It was during this period of solitude that the moun tain people developed the sturdy character which is pre dominant to-day. Their habits and dress were simple, for they borrowed them of the native savages, A fur cap or felt hat, home-spun hunting-shirt, thin, loose trous ers, or simple buck-skin or elk-hide leggings, was the cos tume of a typical settler in the pioneer period. In this attire, with a broad belt which held his tomahawk and scalping knife, and on his shoulder his long barrel, small '.t.t),..i...t..A-^.., ,fa«..i1AK3it The Moonshine Still In a Few Years Will Be Extinct. SOCIAL CONDITIONS 68 bore, flint lock rifle, the husband would leave home in the morning to battle with the forest oak, shoot the tur key, or come in close touch with stealthy bruin. Among these early pioneers money was hardly known and trade was carried on almost entirely by means of barter. Peltries were often used as the medium of ex change: a beaver, otter, dressed buckskin, or large bear skin, being reckoned as equal to two foxes, two wildcats, four coons, or eight minks. The son inherited nothing but a strong frame, willing hands, and an honest and eager heart. But the most valuable requisite for any man, self-reliance, was inherited or by necessity acquired by all. There was not much need of civil law, for land could be had for the asking, and the settlers had come into the wilderness to better their fortune and enjoy the freedom of such a life and not to interfere with the business of a neighbor; but where families were near enough to each other, they formed a kind of military organization for protection against the Indians. As the western settlements increased, the Indians grew more hostile and their bloody raids called forth reprisals such as those made by Kenton. Logan, and Clark against the Shawnees north of the Ohio; and die one by Robert son, who with one hundred and thirty followers, sallied 00 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY out from the Cumberland settlements against the maraud ing Creeks and Cherokees who had intrenched themselves near the bend of the Tennessee. These expeditions were private enterprises and the cost fell heavily on the com munities. They soon began to feel the injustice of being taxed while their effective military services went unpaid. The tax on whiskey was a special grievance and led to the whiskey rebellion in western Pennsylvania and milder protests elsewhere along the mountain frontier. In these remote settlements, especially in the river valleys, there was a large surplus of com which could not with profit be transported across the mountains unless converted into whiskey. "Here a nature-made law was confronting a human one as it continues to do in the isolated region of the Southern Appalachians to-day." The desire of retaliation for this unjust taxation, and the greed for financial gam, knocking against their free dom of spirit in a country where physical conditions were such that there was practically no restrictions of personal rights, all served to revive the custom, which their fathers brought from the old world, of turning grain into whis key. From these causes sprang "mountain moonshine," which, associated with "feuds," has made the mountains of Kentucky a famous region. . When there were only a few inhabitants, each man made, if he desired, his own com whiskey in a copper SOCIAL CONDITIONS 61 kettle around his own fireside, without being molested. It was his inherited right, his own business, and he never dreamed that he was to have that privilege taken from him. As the population increased and the country slowly developed, the whiskey traffic increased until the atten tion of the govemment was called to it. When the mountain men were informed that they could not legitimately make whiskey without a govem ment permit, they could not understand the reason for this interference with their personal rights. They con tinued to make, drink, and sell the "unadulterated ale" until government officers appeared among them, notifying them personally by destroymg their whiskey and distill ing apparatus. Tills was considered an outrage, but realizing that they could no longer "still" publicly, they removed their apparatus to the dense forests where they could easily remain concealed and make their own whiskey. It was a difficult matter for revenue officers to find the moonshiners in the deep woods, where there were giant mountains, deep hollows and many caves, and the "still- ers" were the only human inhabitants. Fifty, thirty, and even twenty years ago, it was not a matter of much im portance, since this was considered a lost region and the 61 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY "moonshmers" were undisturbed except by occasional raids of govemment officers on the frontier. These officers were not anxious for a moonshine raid in the Kentucky Mountains, for the "shiiiers" still be lieved it to be an infringement upon their liberty to be captured and carried to prison for what they considered to be their own business; and they ofteii resisted by force of arms. Many revenue officers and moonshiners have died in combat in the Kentucky Mountains. But East- em Kentucky was not the capital region for making whis key unlawfully. In the year 1794 the govemment im posed a heavy tax on the manufacture of whiskey. "The rough Pennsylvania back-woodsmen were in the habit of distilling large quantities of liquor which was then freely used by all classes and conditions of men. The whiskey producers refused to pay the duty, tarred and feathered one officer sent to collect it, and gave a second a tre mendous flogging with beech rods. Then they proceeded to arm themselves in order to resist the law. Washing ton sent an army of fifteen thousand men to teach them how to behave."* This is the spirit with which the mountaineer the world over has esteemed his personal rights. Certainly it was 'Montgomery's American History, p, aoa. Malcom H. Holliday, Deputy Collector, Perry County. SOCIAL CONDITIONS 68 trae, and to some extent is yet true of the mountain Ken tuckian. But gradually this evil is being eradicated. The forests have largely been cut away and the land culti vated. The civilizing tendencies are too strong for the "venomous worm" to live. He would have been ex terminated, had the revenue officers always done their duty. In fact the country is so open now that few sec tions remain where the still cannot be easily located. This shows how easily with judgment and skill the il legal whiskey-making can be broken up.* ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD MOONSHINE. The reader, if he live outside this region, no doubt, expects this topic to reach a hasty conclusion by the state ment, that the attitude of a mountain man toward "moon shine" is "to drink all he can get," and that he can get all he wants. There never has been a time when this statement would have been entirely true, but years ago when the people held the view, "your business is none of my business and my business is none of your business," the neighbors would not molest a whiskey maker, for they *If all of the officers were aa active as Mr. M. H. Holliday. deputy eol> lector for the districts including Perry, Letcher, Pike snd Knott counties, the moonshine business in the mountains would soon be a thing of the past. From July, 190s, to February, 1906, he "cut" a number of stills and captured severs! moonshiners without resistance. Then resistance was made, a fight ensued in which Holliday and a small brother engaged with three outlaws, and which resulted in the death of one moonshiner, the wounding of the other two and the wounding of Mr. Holliday by three balls and the piercing of his clothes br eight othcro. 64 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY conceded to him that right, under the bill of personal rights. Even those who did not engage in the whiskey business did not feel under obligations to report or in any way interfere with those who wished to make, drink or sell. As the population has increased and civilization has advanced, the parents have realized that a vicinity where whiskey is made and sold is not a wholesome place to rear their children. Thus the advance of years has changed the mind of the people, and now there are law-abiding citizens who take it into their own hands to report moon shiners and pilot the govemment officers to the stills. It used to be dangerous to report a still, for the moonshiners had such an opportunity to escape arrest and seek venge ance by buming property and forcing the man who re ported a "still" to leave the country. But there is no such danger now, since practically all the people denounce them and they are not safe even in the most secluded spots. I cannot more plainly show how rapidly civilization is destroying the moonshine business than to give an illus tration from my own experience. Father was a moon shiner and he now regrets it; although at that time not much was thought of it, and little danger was apprehended in making whiskey close to home. Thus from a small boy, I was accustomed to visit the still, carry father's SOCIAL CONDITIONS 65 dinner to him and return with a bucket of whiskey to de posit at the house for sale. Father wound up the moon shine business when I was about twelve years old. His last still was about two miles from home and I delighted to visit it, climb a large beer tub, hang with my toes on a hoop, and with a large straw or a small elder tube drink to my satisfaction. I remember late one evening, the men seemed very much alarmed and began to tear out the stilling apparatus. That night a big, strong man, to whom the still belonged, hoisted it on his shoulder, and now I can see him as he ascends the steep hill, up the narrow, winding path with the huge copper boiler hanging to his back. I have never known where it went. Father re turned home and since that time has never engaged in the business. Three years after that memorable date in my life, golden grain was ripening where the still itself had stood. The author with three or four merry lads worked in the field, and what a change I Only a short time had inter vened since I had sat by a dim firelight, listening to the exciting and often unwholesome stories of the moonshin ers. The song of the night birds was melancholy, partly because of the seclusion and utter loneliness of the place, but more because conscience kept saying to me, "this is the wrong place to be." I remembered mother at home 66 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY and often thought how sad and lonely she was to have a husband and son from home and in such a business. I pictured my own future and was lost in thought, often not disturbed by the fun in which the others were engaged. Now as we raced to see which could "hoe" to the end of the field in the lead, or stopped to rest our weary limbs and listened to the music of the birds, a different heart throbbed in my bosom and a different picture was seen in the future. In the meantime the old log school house, the front door of which looked out upon the "still house hollow," had been replaced by a new frame building. Good teach ers were now procured, and the school house instead of the still house became the center of attraction. The parents were anxious to school their children, and the children were anxious to leam. The still was no longer there with its anecdotes to allure the youth. There were no more tubs on which the boys could hang and partake abundant ly of the contents and hope to become fleshy like "Uncle Jf» oe. Only six years from the date when the author was learning to make moonshine, he was teaching in the school- house which looked down with disapproval on the very spot from which the "venomous worm" had issued its deadly poison, thanks to the march of civilization which SOCIAL CONDITIONS 67 decided that I was not to instmct the young in the art of distilling whiskey, but to improve their moral and intel lectual life. Public sentiment has ceased to favor the moonshiner, and centers around the home, the school and the church. The voice of the people is always heard against him and the near future will see the last "copper kettle" destroyed, the last "venomous worm" dead and the last moonshiner like Frank James, the last bandit survivor of Quantrel's marauding band, surrender to civil authority. Just as civilization and public sentiment brought this band of out laws to justice, civilization and public sentiment are bring ing the Kentucky moonshiners to submit to the law. GAMBLING. Only a small per cent, of the young men engage in gambling, which is confined almost entirely to card play ing, and not many play for pastime. If it be in winter those who play go to some vacant dwelling, a rock house or bam; if in summer, they seek some cool, shady spot, a respectful distance from any house or roadway. All agree to tell no one of the game. When a boy is sus pected, sister, father or mother asks him about the game, and the falsehood which he tells is a far worse crime than the civil game of cards which was played perhaps for fun. 68 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY A young man enters a neighborhood and the first question which the neighbors wish to know in regard to his character is, "Does he play cards?" If it is found that he does, he is classed in a low grade of society, regardless of his education or profession. I shall always remember an instance which is again personal but which illustrates the light in which wives and mothers regard card plajring. A few friends, including my teacher, sat down at the house of a neighbor, a brother of the teacher, to have a friendly game of cards. The participants knew that such an act would not meet the approval of the women but hoped that we would not be disturbed. Very soon the teacher's wife and the lady of the house came in and asked us not to play. An angry look on a tear-stained face was too much for us and we gave up our game. There is too much opposition to this game for it to become general. Those who gamble must hide away from the passer-by who, accidentally finding such parties, is likely to cause the indictment of all en gaged. A fine and imprisonment is the penalty. In the mountains it is considered a heinous crime to gamble, and a disgrace to play for fun. The young man who gambles is not eligible to the best society. He is not welcome and not much preference is given the one who plays only for sport. SOCIAL CONDITIONS 69 This chapter has handled mountain social life as the author has seen and experienced it. He has some time in his life engaged in every form which has been mentioned — the dance, party, social and cards. He has spent many hours playing "five out" or "seven up" for pastime, has several times placed a nickel "on the comer" or entered the "penny poker game" and a few times been introduced to a "five cent" jack pot. Several times he has carried wood and "chunked" up the fire under a "moonshine still." Although he regrets that environments were such in his early boyhood that he was induced to participate in these lawless and shameful acts, yet he is glad that con ditions are better and rapidly improving. When one considers from a broad point of view the difficulties with which the mountain people have had to contend and the obstacles they have overcome, they should be congratulated on the social position they have attained. Judging from the present conditions and the present tendencies the outlook for the social life of the mountains is very promising. CHAPTER IV. THE FEUDS. Such statements as the following are frequently made: "The mountaineers of Kentucky are, to a great extent, the descendants of the convicts who were sold into slavery in colonial Virginia and escaping from the plantations, fled into the mountains, where they have continued from gen-; eration to generation, a wild and semi-savage people, at once ignorant and defiant of law. Before railroads pene trated these mountain fastnesses to bring out the iron and coal and timber, we did not often hear of these feuds. When we did, we were not disturbed by them. We paid no heed to these people and their quarrels, but unwisely, perhaps, left them to their own devices, upon the theory that the more they killed of one another the better off the world would be. Newspaper extravagance of statement is responsible now for making each of these encounters between moimtaineer outlaws appear to be an affair be tween Kentucky gentlemen." The statement that the mountain people are to a great extent the descendants of convicts is untme, therefore this can not be the cause of the feuds as some people beyond this region believe. 72 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY I do not wish to be antagonistic to the views of any writer upon this subject further than faimess demands, but an investigation of the habits and customs of the people, must be made in order to determine to what extent they may be predisposed to disregard the laws by which they should be govemed. As already stated, the early settlers of Kentucky came chiefly from Virginia, die Carolinas and Pennsylvania, with a few from Maryland, Connecticut and other colon ial states. It is a common thought that the root of the Kentucky feud reaches back to Scotland. There is a degree of re semblance, but that cause is remote and very little credit can be given to this claim considering the small per cent. of Scotch Highlanders that came to this region and the amalgamation that has gone on for generations. The fundamental cause of the feud is to be found in the old feeling of blood kin. The nearer man comes to the elemental stage of Ufe, the more the great fundamental instincts of the man assert themselves and with the exact ing conditions of frontier Ufe and the demands made up on the courage, patience and personal prowess in the early history of the mountain people it is no wonder that there grew up in this region the same attitude of mind and gen- THE FEUDS 73 eral disposition which has grown up in many other regions under like circumstances. Much of the spirit which contributes to the feud idea took rise in the differences between the patriots and the Tories in the war of the Revolution. Kentucky was chiefly settled by men who came from the ranks of the army of the Revolution. Then. too. through this moun tain region there was a great sprinkling of Tories and others who found it desirable to change their location after the unexpected outcome of the war of the colonists. Many of these were strong, turbulent spirits, forceful in life, determined to accomplish their purposes, and living on the frontier with few of the restraints of the older civiUza- tion, the differences between families were accentuated. However, the conditions of the Revolutionary days must be looked upon as one of the remote but far-reach ing causes. The major cause is, no doubt, the conditions which obtained in the Civil War. Many writers confirm this statement, and one of the ablest is Professor Shaler, author of a standard work on Kentucky History. He says, "The difficulty of maintaining the activity of the Civil War in this period of conflict was made the greater by the action of the Home Guards, a force that could not be kept under proper control. The partisan troops made many raids upon persons known to be in sympathy with U THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY the South. The whole experience of the Civil War with these detached locaUzed troops served to show that they were an element of great danger to the civil govemment of the state. The rapid organization of the regular troops of Kentucky fortunately made it possible in time partly to do away with this mediaeval type of soldiery, but the local disturbances that they bred were of more permanent damage to the state than all the operations of war that were ever carried on within her borders. Their deeds of violence bred a crop of hatreds and blood-feuds in which hundreds of lives were sacrificed and certain coun ties made almost desolate for years after the close of the ti war. "Perhaps the best military lesson taught by the re bellion is, that the middle age system of partisan com mands is utterly unfit for the warfare of the day and a source of great danger to any state which is trying to preserve the precious elements of its social system in a time of civil war." During the war the home guards often used their au thority to avenge their personal wrongs. Inhuman treat ment was often the result When the war closed and in most parts of the country a reign of peace at once fore shadowed the land and brought sincere rejoicing to hearts which had long been sad, the Kuklux Clans continued the inhuman work in this region. THE FEUDS 75 A large majority of the men who have engaged in the mountain feuds were bom or were children during the war and in consequence accustomed to bloodshed and bush-whacking from their infancy. Civil War fumished both the cause and condition for the feuds, since in many cases the feuds, at least the feud spirit, grew out of that war. But primarily the feud is based upon a privilege the mountaineer the world over has gmdglngly surren dered to the law, — the privilege of avenging private wrongs. Moreover, the feud is almost absolutely confined to the factions, and the property of the defeated side and of non-partisans is never molested. The sympathy of an entire county may be involved, yet the number actually engaged is comparatively small. The direct causes of the feuds are often of a simple and trifling nature. It is evident that in a region where the local agencies are weak, the county large, the people far from the central authority, that authority sometimes in disposed to act, and places of refuge easily accessible, resort to violence requires little provocation. Trivial affairs such as a quarrel over political, social and business matters or a game of cards between friends suddenly angered or drinking, have often resulted in these feuds. 76 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The family ties are unusually strong and the custom of dwelling in communities has developed a tribal spirit. This social compact is very strong and to the aid of one of its members, the mountain man readily responds. This is the factor which is such a powerful preventive of arbi tration. These people are the most homogeneous of any peo ple in our United States. Very few, almost no foreigners live in this region. In their veins the blood of the mother country flows in purer strains than anywhere else in our broad land. The virtues and vices which they possess are due to English civilization and they have come to them by legitimate inheritance. It does not vindicate the name of Eastem Kentucky at all to say that this was not the only section subject to violence by raids of desperadoes after the war had closed, but we think of the work of Qauntrel and his band, in cluding the James* and Younger's and their desperate raids in Kansas, Missouri and other states. For the conditions which will end the reign of the feud there are no other causes to seek than those which have been effective elsewhere. The civilization and busi ness tendencies together with the enforcement of the law were too strong to bd resisted; while these forces to a great extent have been lacking in the mountains. The THE FEUDS 77 physical conditions in the mountains of Kentucky have until the beginning of the present decade, been such as to retard the march of civilization. Had it not been for the Inheritance of the qualities of noble manhood, civilization under such conditions could not have advanced so rapidly. CIVILIZATION. PUBLIC SENTIMENT AND THE FEUDS. The history of the feuds is familiar, not only to the mountain people, but to all. for the newspapers and maga zines have recounted them again and again, until the feud district of Eastem Kentucky has attained a national repu tation. I shall mention only the most prominent feuds and give general characteristics. The Strong-Amy feud, in Breathitt County; Turner-Sizemore feud in Knott Coun ty; Tumer-Sowders feud in Bell County; Logan-Toliver feud in Rowan County; French-Eversole feud, Perry County; Hatfield-McCoy feud, Pike County, Kentucky, and Logan County, West Virginia; Howard-Baker feud. Clay County, and Hargis-Cockrill feud, Breathitt County. These feuds began shortly after the Civil War with the Strong-Amy feud. All have ended except for occasional outbreaks. The present tendencies indicate that they will soon entirely cease. T8 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The writer has no desire to vindicate this region any further than justice demands. The deeds have been black and the participants need not only condemnation by public sentiment but the stem administration of the law, and it is to be regretted that some fiendish murderers have escaped the gallows, yet these feuds have involved such a small proportion of the inhabitants of this region that the writer cannot refrain from saying that it is a gross injustice for the innocent to bear the blame. The great mass have always looked upon these criminals with horror and with regret because the authorities could not or would not stop them, and patriotic officers and men have striven for their prosecution. These should be honored and not condemned with the criminals which they have striven to bring to justice. The enormity of the feuds themselves has been over stated. It is nothmg but fair that tmth should be told as tmth. For example, read the details of the Hatfield- McCoy feud in Munsey's Magazine, January, 1901. It is there given in story form instead or a mere exposition of facts. The so-called feud covered a period of almost ten years and not more than ten lives were lost. To read this story leaves the impression that all Eastem Kentucky and a large part of West Virginia were engaged in war for several years. This kind of exposition has told the THE FEUDS 79 story for Eastem Kentucky ever since the war and the fact is that conditions have never been so bad as the gen eral public have been led to believe. The following is an extract from a paper in regard to a mountain town which in the public eye is a harbor of cut-throats and assassins: "But to the reader who has been looking for only this character of news from Jackson and has been seeking only to know something of its criminal history and has sought not for its material achieve ments, to him its tme and proper history has not been revealed. "Tme enough we have been cursed with crime and cormption, and murder and infamy have mn riot for a time, but these were destined to fall and have fallen and upon their min is being constmcted the majestic stmcture of the law. During all these times of tumult when crim inals were being tried and convicted of crime, when the commonwealth was weighted with burdens of prosecution and people sought to ferret out mysteries of murder and assassination, there still remained that spirit of progressive- ness and material advancement which bespeaks business and commercial integrity." The article further describes the location, the three railroads and the pomts they reach and the business they transact, the business of the bank, department stores, 80 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY progress of the school, the advantage of the river, access to timber and coal lands, scarcely tapped; and the pos sibilities of city development This shows the town in a different light than that in which it has formerly been viewed. The name of Eastern Kentucky would not look quite so dark if the bright side would be shown at least al ternately with the unpleasant side which has always been presented. The writer cannot portray the sentiment of the moun tain people more accurately than to quote from some noted men who have visited this region upon investiga tion: "The moral standard of the mountaineer has been modified in a marked way of late. Probably in the popu- lar thought, the chief associations with the mountains are 'moonshine' and feuds. It was something of a surprise to us to leam that all three of the counties through which wo rodo had adopted a no-license policy, and that for a considerable period a regular feud or Var' had not been known, nor was the change chiefly the result of out side pressure. It grew out of a popular reaction, against the uncertain lawless terrifying regime of whiskey and bloodshed. "The conviction gradually gained ground that Uquor was the source of the evil. In creating this feeling, mis- THE FEUDS n sionaries and temperance workers took an important part. So far as we could leam from conversations with all kinds of people, the prohibition sentiment is widespread and vigorous. We were impressed everywhere with the popu lar dislike of the old order of things and a sense of relief from the dread and uncertainty of other years."* This was written in 1 898 and since then the advance has been rapid. In subsequent chapters the forces which have brought about this change in public sentiment and developed the country will be discussed. The present tendencies with the present civiUzation and future prospects strongly indicate that there will be no more feuds. Where only a few years ago were the headquarters of these awful feuds, there are now strong religious institutions — churches and academies as at Haz ard, Perry County; Morehead, Rowan County; Man chester, Clay County; Middlesboro, Bell County; Pike- ville. Pike County, and Harlan Court House, Harlan County. Peace reigns in these same districts and it is hopefully believed that feuds will be no more. These feuds end as soon as civilization and business development claim a place. The "Civil War" in Bell County, as it was called, is a good proof that modem *G«o. B. Vinoenl^ Unlvsrsltr of Cbleago. 8« THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE Ofi KENTUCKY civilization was all that was demanded to act as arbiter to quell the most bitter feud. When the English capitalists bought the valley of Yellow Creek and started the flour ishing town of Middlesboro with its newspapers, hotels, theaters, banks, and electric lights, the lawless spirits laid down their arms, came in from the brash and began the life of law abiding and peaceful citizens, imbibing the business spirit, and the father of one who captained the feudists for one side, became justice of the peace in the newly built town. Public sentiment is too bitter against such characters to permit them to prosper in politics or in business, the administration of law is passing into the hands of men who will mete out justice and shield no man, regardless of party affiliations. The question is no more: When shall these feuds end? — ^but instead, the declaration, they have ended. The regeneration has come largely through education. The law is beginning to rise in its majesty, and is in many places administering stem, inflexible justice; takes no ac count of family connection but only of crimes committed. The citizens are sustaining the law regardless of threats of assassination which are often made by the criminal. This is striking at the heart of lawlessness for it has been the lax administration of the law that has fed the feud THE FEUDS 88 spirit in the past; and the enforcement of law and the administration of justice are choking this spirit at present and will kill it in the not far distant future. Public opin ion is so wrought up that for a court or chief magistrate to pardon a cowardly assassin for favor is regarded as a blackening crime. There may yet be occasional murders and outbreaks and over-riding of civil law, but they will be comparatively rare. The land of I^entucky feuds is no longer a blot on the map of the United States. CHAPTER V. INDUSTRIES. FARMING. Of all the phases of mountain life, none is more in teresting or more important than agriculture. Not more than a century ago. the only industry in the mountains was hunting, but as the population increased and the game became scarce, the settlers began in earnest to clear away the timber and prepare for crops. Tlius farming early became the principal industry. Com, wheat, barley, beans and potatoes are the staple products. Com is the prin cipal crop and is used largely as an article of food, and also to feed horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, which are the common domestic animals. Chickens, geese, ducks, and turkeys are also raised. Fanning in the mountains is not, as some people may think, an occupation to be hated, but rather to be en joyed. To a large extent each man, with his several boys, does his own farm work. In this case the workers are (8S) 86 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY more independent not being confined to certain hours and fixed rales as are the hired hands. But even the hired hands in this section work largely at their own discretion. The customs of "shrabbing," i. e., cutting away the small timber, "com-shucking" and "log-rolling" are still common. At these workings the neighbors gather to as sist a friend who has fallen behind with his work, or has work too heavy to do himself. The youth, glowing with vigor, and the man who has never been accustomed to the use of the cultivator, planter, binder and thresher of the westem plain, finds pleasure in farming in the mountains. The rastic youth, with great delight, harnesses the mule, hitches him to the "cutting colter" plowstock, seizes the lines and handles of the plow and drives to the field, whistling as he goes. The boy is full of life but often the mule is not as he has seen, perhaps, a dozen summers, and such an animal prefers to nibble at the grass or the brash along the roadside. But this slow procedure does not suit the boy, for his father has promised him that he may accompany the crowd on the fishing trip, which is an annual event just after the com is planted. He speaks to "Jack" three or four times rather sharply and the old mule, which seemed to be ex pecting a rebuke for his laziness, pricks up his ears, mends his gait, and soon reaches the field. Father and the small- Mountain Boys. INDUSTRIES 87 er boys are already in the field, piling and burning the scattered brash and logs which escaped the fire when the "new ground" was burned off, i. e., they are making the ground ready for the plow. The hillside on which the boy must plow to-day is unusually rough, and as the story goes, is so steep that the observer from a distance, especially if he is not a moun taineer, would shudder, thinking he might fall out of the field and break his neck. The boy apprehends no danger, but lashes the mule with the lines as he, sure-footed, goes around the hillside. The "colter" fails to cut a large root or strikes a rock or stump, the entire "machinery" suddenly stops, and the handles of the plow poke the boy in the ribs. If the boy is a Christian, or is un usually good natured. he holds his peace or speaks gently, but often, if the mule could talk, he would tell the story of his rebuke in words which would not be acceptable in Sunday school. This custom of swearing at the mule is often inherited and has become so habitual that the boy does not realize that he is taking the name of the Lord in vain. This idle practice is passing away with the in troduction of better schools, churches and social circles. The ground is plowed. The father now takes the lines and "Jack" begins once more at the bottom of the hill, diis time to furrow off the ground for the rows of com. 81 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The plowboy now takes the hand planter and plants the com at the heels of his father until the top of the hill is reached again. The com is planted and the boy gives three hurrahs in succession, but the younger brothers who have been playing hide-and-seek or "skinning cats," do not rejoice with him, as father has told them that they are too small to go with the fishing party this year. Nearly all the neighbors are done planting and the fishing party, consisting of several men and boys, is ready. The trip lasts from two to five days and is enjoyed very much. In three or four weeks from the time the com is plant ed, it is ready for the first working. The boy, again behind the mule, plows the com. His father and the other boys start in after the plow with hoes fresh from the file, and by the time the field is plowed, the hands with the hoes are finishing also, unless there is an unusual num ber of weeds and sprouts. Two or three such workings with an interval of a few days each time and the crop is "laid by." Several loud hurrahs are given by the chil dren, for they are now free from toil. It is about the tenth of July and school has already begun, and they are anx ious to join their schoolmates in lessons and in sports. The men do the odd jobs, such as sprouting off the pasture fields, until about the middle of September, com- INDUSTRIES gj cutting time; then some of the larger boys must return to the field. The com is cut with a hand-knife and carried in the arms to the shock. During the damp days of fall and early winter, all hands are busy "shucking" and haul ing the com. This is the most common method of gath ering com, yet some people "blade and top," i. e., pull the blades to the ear, and cut the tops and tie them in bundles, and later shuck the com from the stalk. This is the most desirable way to save both com and fodder, but it takes more time and is more expensive. Oats and wheat are cut, bound, and stacked by hand and threshed by an eight or ten horse-power thresher. The old method of using the flail is still described in an enthusiastic manner by father and mother, but the prac tice has only a small place in the present day. Although briefly stated, I hope I have left you a picture of mountain farming, a method which will be used for a long time, since conditions will hardly permit any other. The mountain farmer is glad to answer the ques tion of the outside visitor: "How do you farm such steep land?" "Oh, well, it is simple enough, we shoot the seed into the ground from the opposite side of the hill with a large gun; and when gathering time comes, we make sleds on top of the hill and never use them but once." 90 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY "How about gathering those pumpkins?" "Oh, the boys shoot them off the vines and they roll down the hill and jump into the yard." This section of Kentucky is not a continuous rocky hill as it is commonly described, but winding among these mountains are the three forks of the Big Sandy, the three forks of the Kentucky, and the Licking rivers, all with their numerous tributaries. Along the larger of these streams are many fertile but narrow valleys which con stitute a small portion of this region and here some of the modem methods of farming have been introduced. The people rapidly take hold of any promising enter prise, but when their distance from market is considered, one is surprised to leam that commerce is not entirely stagnant. The farmer's wife receives ten cents each for large frying chickens, four to sue cents per pound for old hens, seven cents for turkeys, and from five to fifteen cents per dozen for eggs. The price seems small, but it must be remembered that the chicken peddler often hauls them from twenty to fifty miles and should he receive a good price, his profit would be very small. The stock- buyer who rides several weeks, bu}ring a bunch of cattle, sheep or hogs, drives them seventy-five miles or more to some border town on court day to risk the market cannot afford to pay the farmer a fair price for his stock; thus INDUSTRIES 91 Stock raising in the mountains cannot be very profitable until the market is brought nearer the farms. NATURAL RESOURCES. TTie wealth of Eastem Kentucky lies in her natural resources. Coal and oil have just begun to receive atten tion as flourishing industries. With the exception of the work in two or three counties, the oil development is in its infancy, although twenty-six of the thirty-five moun tain counties have proved to be rich in oil. While in many of the counties only test wells have been made, yet the investigation has been sufficient to convince the peo ple that with proper development Eastem Kentucky will, in the future, be enriched by this industry. The oldest oil field is in Wayne county where work has been in progress tor about twelve years. This is an all-absorbing business for the county and surrounding region. It has been detrimental to the schools in the sur rounding country for the ambitious young men receive employment with the oil companies at a compensation which induces them to neglect teaching. Five thousand barrels per day have been running for several years and there seems to be no limit, for new wells continue to in crease the quantity. The field is twenty-five miles from 92 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY the railroad, but oil is carried by pipes to the refineiy and the stage coach takes care of the pascengers. The writer rode on top of this coach in August 1 905, and there were six states represented on top of the coach and several oth ers inside. This almost daily occurrence illustrates how "foreigners," eager for speculation, flock to the oil-fields. The Campton oil field stands next in importance. For more than five years the work has been successfully car ried on and prospects are improving as new wells are opened. The companies have only a part of the land leased in these various districts and when work has begun, the people are slow to sell their rights, as they prefer to await the development Under such circumstances a company often drills a few hundred feet, announces that the hole is dry, or that the amount will not pay, and leaves the field. It is beUeved that this is done in order to induce the people to lease their oil rights. The fact that the com pany retums within a few years, unstops and drills suc cessfully in the same well is evidence that this explanation is the trae one. Such a process very much retards de velopment. The Standard, and other large companies, are in no hurry to push the work since they have many other fields demanding their attention. Thus far local INDUSTRIES 98 companies have not been able to do more than sink test wells and then they are ready to be consumed by larger companies. E^it^velopment will not progress very rap idly until Eastem Kentucky capital organizes a company, or companies, which can handle the business. The fact that oil is there awaiting development is encouraging to the mountain man who has even a small farm near these oil districts. ^YgJQLgoUPiy-"lJEastem . Kentucky, jg„underlaid with coal jof various klnd^. The cannel, stone, and bitumin ous veins vary from twenty-four inches to fourteen feet in thickness, with often from two to five veins In one hill. In the southem counties as Harlan. Bell. Jackson. Clay. Perry, and Letcher, the veins are from four to seven feet thick, while in the eastem counties as Pike. Lawrence. and Johnson they reach twelve and fourteen feet. In Wolfe and other counties, investigation has shown that at a distance of two hundred feet below the surface there are veins of coal fourteen feet thick. At Jackson, Breathitt County, where mining has been active since the Lexington and Eastem Railway reached there fifteen years ago, the work has just begun. Six miles up the Kentucky river, the fine cannel coal cannot be mined extensively since the old coal-boat is too slow to meet the demands. 94 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The vast coal fields have just begun to receive atten tion and although mining may be pushed vigorously for the next century, yet Eastem Kentucky will not have ceased to be a mining region, for after the hills have been tunneled until they are hollow, shafts will be sunk under ground and mines will be put in operation, ^.^he fact that the coal in various localities has been pronounced by spe cialists to be the best in the world, is sufficient inducement to continue the railway development which is now in progress. Several roads have already been constracted, such as the continuation of the Chesapeake and Ohio from Ash land through the great Eastern fields in Lawrence, John son, and Pike counties. At least six roads are now being built which will reach the vast fields in Bell, Harlan, Owsley, Perry, Letcher and other counties. Routes have been surveyed to almost every field. Tlie principal route for which a charter has been recently granted is the one for the Cairo and Cumberland Gap Railroad. This road extends from Cairo, Illinois, to Cumberland Gap, Vir ginia, passing through the counties of Ballard, CarUsle, Graves, Marshall, Trigg, Todd, Logan, Simpson, Clin ton, Wayne, Pulaski, and Whitley and is not parallel to any other road, but crosses five other systems. This road, about three hundred and fifty miles long, traverses INDUSTRIES 95 much undeveloped country as well as rich coal and oil fields, timber lands, iron beds, tobacco districts and fertile farms. If the people of the mountains of Kentucky could see the importance of transportation as clearly as did the early pioneers in the valley country, financial sacrifices would be made to induce the railroad to come for their productions. "When the railroads first came, our grand parents welcomed them as aids to their vigorous indus trialism and as a means by which their keen business pow ers could be given broader sway in the opening up of the continent. What legislation they enacted consisted main ly in benefits by law to the railroad builders. They gave millions of acres of land. They bonded towns, cities, and countries and granted state aid in many forms," But the telegraph and telephone have not waited for outside capital. Private and local companies have taken advantage of the growing demand for these necessities and now there are telegraph offices in all the larger towns and the telephone has reached every village and many cross road stores and private houses. The timber industry is also an inducement to railroad companies. There is in almost every county fine timber such as popular, oak, pine, elm, maple, and sycamore, yet the woodman's ax has laid low much of the fine for- 96 THE MOUNTAIN ^PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY ests. The people, in the absence of market, have burned or sold for almost nothing, millions of dollars worth of timber because it has been necessary to cultivate the soil. These new railways give them a better market, and now the buzzing of the stave and saw mills are awakening the inhabitants of every county, and the scrab timber now sells for three times the amount formerly paid for the best timber. Why have men been obliged to sell their timber at such low prices? Because the only method of getting it to market has been by rafting and floating down the streams. The cost of cutting, hauling, rafting and ran- ning; and the frequent loss of timber by high tides, makes the timber industry very expensive and the profit uncer tain. It is now evident why the fine oak, poplar and pine once sold for fifty cents and one dollar per tree. Untold wealth has been bumed as the farmers removed the trees from the ground that they might sow grain instead. Had there been transportation facilities, the timber which was reduced to ashes would have been exchanged for money. Had they convenient markets, the farmers could af ford to cultivate or sow some old neglected field in grass in order to have food for stock. There are yet country stores in the most remote districts, situated forty miles from the railroad. Imagine a team in the dead of winter, re turning with a load of goods over this mountain road I INDUSTRIES 91 There must be better roads and more railways, and a development of underground wealth before conditions are improved. Picture instead of the old neglected fields, now overgrown with briars and shrubs, a green pasture, with fat cattle, sheep, hogs and horses. Instead of the typical mountain home, picture a splendid mansion. Pic ture a flourishing railroad town, with electric lights, bank, hotel, department store, and a good high school instead of the little country village. The picture of today can be converted into this picture of the imagination. Will the penetration of the country by railroads bring about this change? To answer this question correctly, one must consider the nature of the present development. Rail roads are piercing this region, and vast coal and oil fields are being opened up, but who is getting the money? For eign capitalists are largely doing the business and receiving the income. They will not build a road until they have secured the land, timber or mineral rights, worth millions of dollars. The land owners receive small compensation, spend the money, and often become day-laborers. When a small number of men, able to control unlimited capital through combination, are given an opportunity to conduct their business so that the public suffers and the people are compelled to submit to their exactions, it is not surprising that the people are awakening to the fact that they are 98 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY being robbed. Such has been and is yet, to a large extent, the manner in which the natural resources have been de- veloped. Developments have already revealed the wealth which lies hidden in timber and beneath these giant moun tains and oil fields, and the land owners realize that it does not pay to barter away their inherited and legitimate rights. Local companies are formed to maintain their own and the people's interest but they can do but little. Men are straggling with the problem with a view to finding a solu tion which will convert this hidden wealth into mountain capital and prosper the country to which it belongs. Some refuse to sell their land or mineral rights, and companies which already oyfm large tracts of land, and fail to secure the balance, are in no hurry to constract a road. For this reason railroad routes which have been surveyed for years are still untouched. This hinders development by delay ing the approach of the market for the farmer's produce and wages for the daily wage-eamer, but it is better to retard this development than to have foreign companies carry away the wealth and leave the country in no better condition. It is a common expression: "If we had the roads and owned our land, coal and timber, we would be independent and get some profit from the business." INDUSTRIES 99 How can this problem be solved? It is simple enough when a c'ountry has had experience, and observation has revealed the mistake. Roads have been surveyed when companies owned very little land. It is evident they could not build through a mountain country without either financial support or a share in the resources. Coun ties have been asked to raise a fund to assist in the con- straction of a railroad, which would have taxed the wealthy a few dollars, and the poor a very small amount. A vote showed that in some counties the people, were not willing to pay the tax. Since the people now realize the great value of a road, especially under such conditions. this mistake will not be repeated. It reminds one of the man who stood in his own light and attempted to pick up a coin. He was unable to find it. but had he shifted his frame, the coin would have been distinctly visible. The writer remembers one county which bitterly regrets that it blocked a railroad by voting against a railroad tax. Had it voted the tax. it could today watch the iron horse pass through its center and gather the products at twice the price now received. The ambitious youth who de sires to look beyond this region, and behold the outside world, would not become discouraged as now at a thirty- mile trip before reaching the train. Many young people in this section at the age of twenty, and many fathers and mothers have never seen a railway train. 100 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Then the business men are not at such a disadvantage when near the railway, telephone and telegraph offices. But the county referred to lost its opportunity; roads now brash each side of the county, and there is no inducement to have the route resurveyed, or a chance to reconsider the question of taxation. The time has fully come when a few dollars tax will not serve as a barrier between a large section of coal fields without market, or without transportation facilities, and the success of the country. The fathers and mothers are not content that their children ran the same course that they have ran, and see only the sights that they have seen. They are building for the future. This idea of profitably developing their natural resources by building their own roads is taking root and flourishing as education enlightens the country and business ideas spread. But this is not the only method of developing this region. The idea of industrial schools has been intro duced, and is favorably accepted. A common expression among the mountain boys is: "There is no use for me to go to school, for I don't want to teach." This has grown out of the idea that the teacher is the only person who needs an education. But the introduction of schools which train boys to properly and successfully care for the farm, orchards and stock, erect houses, either frame or INDUSTRIES 101 brick, has awakened an interest in education. The boys have been accustomed to work, and they do not mind it. Their arms are muscular from the result of such toil as cutting timber, mauling rails, hoeing com. plowing the field, and harvesting the grain. This is all unskilled la bor. Their eagerness to learn a skillful trade is shown by the way they flock to the industrial schools at London, Laurel County; Mt. Vemon, Rockcastle County, and Berea, Madison County. The industrial department of the last named institution is the oldest and by far the most extensive. In the bricklaying, carpentry, farming, sewing, cooking and nursing courses, there were, in the winter term of 1906, more than two hundred students. Those who completed the bricklaying course, which requires only a three-months term, were ready for work, which pays from $2.50 to $5.00 per day. The students who receive their diplomas from the carpentry course are not only able to command good wages, but are competent to become con tractors, and there are more calls for teachers in industrial schools than the college can supply. From each depart ment there is a like demand for graduates. After receiving instraction in the farmers' course, the young men understand how to care for the soil in order to obtain the best results. By proper care the mountains will 102 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY produce the finest orchards. On these well-cared-for farms there will be finer houses, erected by the carpenters and bricklayers of these schools. It is not surprising that these schools receive a number of students in these courses when the fact is known that while they receive their train ing they are also receiving compensation, sufficient to de fray the larger part of their expenses. CHAPTER VI. EDUCATION. THE OLD LOG SCHOOLHOUSE. Our fathers have so often told the story of their school days, that it is familiar to every mountain youth. Often it took a journey of five or six miles through an unbroken forest to reach the schoolhouse. This was built of rough logs, with low roof, hewn puncheon floor, slab door shut ter which swung on wooden hinges, and a large open fire place. It was fumished with seats made of split oak poles, supported by wooden pegs. The pupils sat there with feet dangling In the air, and gazed Ustlessly at an open book. They maintained this uncomfortable position, only because they were under the vigilant eye of a stem teacher who handled his large ferule in such a manner as to say: "Might is right." Arithmetic, spelling, reading, and sometimes grammar, were the only studies. The method of recitation now (108) 104 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY seems peculiar to the modem teacher. There was no program by which the classes were called, but instead, the pupils recited in tum, as they arrived in the moming — first at school, first recite. This system was pursued until noon. In the aftemoon they were asked to raise hands when the lessons were prepared, and this determined the order of recitation for the rest of the day. Besides the unsatisfactory system of recitation, the environment was not at all inviting, especially for young students. In the midst of the work they were often stardcd by tlie howl of the wolf, the scream of the wildcat, or the cry of the panther. More frequently these piercing cries persuaded them to quicken their steps as they went to school or re- tumed home. The three months' term with such equipment, such instraction, and such environment, was worth but little. Our fathers were not to blame for this condition of the public schools, for the population was sparse and physical conditions were impediments to progress. But there has been a steady increase in population, and a corresponding decrease in the hindrance from physical causes, and thus the school system has undergone a steady process of evo lution until the public schools are now in fairly good con dition. EDUCATION 106 THE MODERN SCHOOL. The old log schoolhouse is rapidly being replaced by the frame building which is large enough to accommodate the pupils of the district, and is fumished with patent seats, blackboard and stove. The largest deficiency in apparatus at present is in maps, charts and globes, but these are rap idly being provided, and school libraries are being intro duced. Teachers and pupils are industrious. Instead of gazing at the rough log walls, or peering through the large open cracks, the students now look at pictures or read the Lord's Prayer, or other appropriate quotations with which the teacher has decorated the walls; or they admire the vases of well selected wild flowers, which they themselves have gathered to add to the beauty of the schoolroom. Instead of making a journey of several miles through the forest, the pupils now are not usually required to walk more than two miles to reach the schoolhouse. Instead of quaking with fear at the sudden appearance of some wild beast, they may admire the beauties of nature, to be seen in green pastures and in waving fields of grain. The playground is free from unnecessary trees and shrabs, and the boys enjoy a game on the marble yard, or the more exciting and interesting game on the ball field. The course of study is not limited to three or four subjects, but ten branches compose the common school curriculum. 108 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY and some higher branches are often taught. The old- fashioned Friday aftemoon "spelling match" is passing away and giving its time to a well-rendered program of songs, essays, dialogues and recitations, which is given by the literary societies of the school. The length of the school term is doubled, and each year witnesses a large increase in attendance. The old-fashioned teacher, with his large ferale, has no place in the modem schoolhouse. His position is occu pied by the young, energetic teacher, whose motto is not "Might is right," but who govems the school by winning the confidence of the children by gentleness and love, and by appealing to their sense of justice and honor. The ob ject of teaching is gradually changing from the idea of feeding the intellect on the dry husks of the text-book alone, to the developing of the divine spark of love and light which is implanted in every human soul. Notwithstanding the fact that there has been a radical change from the school of half a century ago to the school of the present day, yet not all the schools are ideal schools, and not all the teachers are ideal teachers. There are cases in which the frame stracture, left unfinished, is less com fortable and less desirable than the best log schoolhouses of eariier times. There are some few teachers who lack normal training. But the description is typical of the EDUCATION 107 mountain school of today; and the following, which is a trae story, illustrates how many of the schools shake off the ancient customs and adopt modern methods. In the autumn of 1 905, the writer visited schools in a number of counties. In some of the most mountainous counties, even in the remotest districts, a general interest was found in education. One afternoon the writer was deeply impressed by the unusual interest which was mani fested by teacher and pupils of a certain school. In the evening he mentioned this fact to his host, an old gentle man, and from him learned the story of the school. This gentleman had moved to the neighborhood in 1 875. At that time the nearest schoolhouse was on Cave Creek, eight miles away. Nothing was heard of the school ex cept when some traveler or hunter brought news that the teacher and the larger pupils had engaged in a combat with a bear or a wildcat that had been so bold as to visit the school. Gradually more and more families moved in, men felled the oak, houses were built, the number of children increased, and they must have a schoolhouse. The neigh bors went to work and soon a rade building was con stracted. , An old farmer who chanced to know some thing of reading, writing and arithmetic, was employed as teacher, and the school was begun. Boys and giris fourteen years of age had never been in a schoolhouse. 108 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The school was taught only a few weeks of each year until 1899, when a new impulse was awakened. A young man had lived in the district for several years, at tending school faithfully and studying diligently. He had thought a great deal on how the school could be improved, and this was his highest ambition. The previous year he had attended the nearest normal school, which was many miles away, and had retumed with class honors. The trastees had selected him to teach the school. He bore the reputation of a gentleman and a scholar; so fond hopes of a good school were cherished. Before the school began he visited the patrons and children of the district and impressed upon them the importance of being present the first moming of the term. As a result of this effort the opening exercises found a much larger number than usual present. He made a good impression with his opening address, and went to work in eamest. Not satisfied to use the sluggish methods of his predecessors, he instituted new plans. In order to retain the interest and attendance he read or told interesting stories, and encouraged Uterary work. The school closed with a nice entertainment. The trastees, patrons and many people of other districts came to hear the children sing, recite and act their dialogues. and to hear the teacher deliver the farewell address. EDUCATION ¦ 109 The old gentleman remembered distinctly the proceed ings of the day. The address of the teacher must have been delivered with much personal magnetism and from an overflowing heart for it made a lasting impression on the memory of the aged father. And now I fancy I can see him as the gray locks hung over his wrinkled brow as, with an eloquent, affectionate voice, he gave the following extract from the address: "Pupils, patrons, friends. I regret that our school has come to a close. Every hour that I have spent here has been pleasant, and. I hope. profitable. The honor for whatever good may have been accomplished. I attribute to the eamest support of the parents and to the faithful attendance and diligent study of the students. Pupils, continue to be honorable. Be men. Be women. Do not let the dust cover your books, which you have so diligently studied. When another school term opens, be in your seats. Be as kind and faith ful to your next teacher as you have been to me. Study with as much zeal as you have this last term, and success awaits you in the future. I have associated with most of you since childhood, but have never before realized that such strong affections bind us together. May you ever be faithful to duty and may success crown your efforts. I must say 'good-by'." As good-bys were said all around, tears moistened the cheeks of both old and young. School no THB MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY had closed, and with heavy hearts, all went to their homes. An interest in education which they had never felt be fore was awakened among the people of Elm Branch dis trict. Thomas Craigg, the young teacher, after the holi days, was off to enter school again. The educational enthusiasm aroused by his eamest en deavors was still throbbing in the breasts of trastees and patrons. They met often to discuss plans for improving the condition of the house and grounds for the coming year. The old schoolhouse was replaced by a new one, adequately fumished. Young Craigg was again asked to teach the school. At the same time he was offered a position which would pay him a much larger salary, but he loved his home peo ple, and wished to do what he could for them, so he agreed to teach the school. All were delighted, the chil dren almost overjoyed, when they heard that Mr. Craigg was agaiii to be their teacher. July 1 4th, the door of the new schoolhouse opened to welcome teacher, parents and pupils. With merry hearts and smiling faces the pupils cheered their honored teacher when he arose to deliver his opening address. He ex pressed himself as very much delighted to be with them at the beginning of another school year, and hoped that to all it would be pleasant and profitable. YOUNG TEACHERS. Luther L. Shadoin. Pulaski County. Charles E. Clark, Morgan County. EDUCATION 111 Experience enabled them, all working in harmony, to surpass the record of the preceding year. Interest increased toward the end of the term, and the closing exercises were better attended than those of the preceding year. The influence of the briUiant success of the Elm Branch School was not confined to the limits of the district. Teachers and patrons of other districts caught the inspiration and made preparation for better schools. The entire county soon knew of Thomas Craigg and the Elm Branch School. Many valuable lessons were learned from the results of this school. The people for the first time felt that it was worth while to make sacrifices to educate their chil dren. The trastees of former years had not been cautious in selecting teachers, or in giving proper attention to the school, for they did not regard their duty as a very serious responsibility. But the experience of the last two years had given them an idea of their duty and what could be accomplished if they should only fulfill the obUgations resting upon them. Every year there are a number, of students who re ceive county diplomas from this school and enter higher institutions, with a determination to continue their educa tion. Next year the school is to be graded, and will then lead, step by step, to a high school. This is a living illus- in THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY tratlon of how a school can be established and maintained by the hearty co-operation of teachers and patrons. The only comment the old man made on the schools in general was that he was sorry that there were not many schools in the county with such a history, but concluded by saying that it is gratifying to know that the people are interested in better schools, and that they show their inter est not only by talking education, but by building and fur nishing schoolhouses and encouraging education in various ways. The writer had the pleasure of Ustening to many stories in praise of the schools, but one who is intensely interested in every district having a good school, can not have sun shine every day he visits the various localities. Very often a schoolhouse, with good accommodations and in a large district, is found with a small attendance. The cause is often trivial, such as a dispute over the employment of a teacher, or some other affair in which all should co-operate, instead of dividing. It is to be regretted that little personal matters, and often political differences are carried to the schoolroom. There they wreak their vengeance on one of the most sacred rights that boys and girls possess, the right to get an education. Alas, that such is often the case. It is gratifying, however, to know that each year EDUCATION 118 these evils grow less prevalent, and It is hoped that in the near future these hindrances will be entirely removed. The county in which education was found at the low est ebb, was one where there had been an Industrial boom for several years. The young men receive from $2.25 to $5.00 per day for manual labor, and they seem to have forgotten that school-teaching is any longer a profession. Several schools in the county have not been taught for two or three years, and many must wait until some of the teachers have closed their schools. This strengthens the evidence that the best results can not be obtained In the district school till the teacher is paid more than the ordinary laborer, but this is a fact which needs no demonstration. At any rate, I shall not take space in this little volume to make a plea for higher wages. Such pleas are filling columns in all the educational journals, and are upon the lips of all who are interested in better schools. THE OUTLOOK OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. Notwithstanding the fact that there is not enough money behind the public school to insure the best results, yet the outlook is encouraging. There is a greater demand on the part of the citizens for better schools than has ever been known. This public sentiment has been moulded, because the people realize that to keep apace with the IM THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY times in this age of progress, a higher education is required. The introduction of the higher institutions of learning into the mountains has vividly illustrated the value of good schools. The people are awakened to the fact that educa tion is the hope for future progress, and they are thinking and acting accordingly. In order to satisfy the cherished ambition of the mountam youth for better educational advantages, various plans are instituted and supported. Often a good teacher is surprised by being informed that a sum of fifty dollars or more per month has been pledged as inducement to have the school continue for two or three months after the free school is closed. This is often done in small districts, and among the poorer class of people. This is a good indication that the sentiment against the extension of the school term is passing away as the schools become better. Who ever heard of the people of any district rejoicing because a well-taught school was ended? There is not only a strong sentiment in favor of ex tending the term, but the experience of sending children to the high schools has clearly shown that much time ii wasted in attending an ungraded school; so the people have begun to devise plans by which the public schools may be converted into schools which give a systematic training. EDUCATION lis A man spent $800 on each of his three sons, giving each of them four years' training in a high school. If the home school had given them systematic training and started them in the higher branches, the larger share of this $2,400 could have been saved, and would have started the boys well into a college course or professional train ing. Such experiences are making strong advocates for better schools. This sentiment for graded schools is due to the efforts of the leading educators, who, in recent years, have been calling attention to the fact that in the public school the primary children are neglected. This is due largely to the irregular classification which results in such a number of classes that time will not permit the teacher to do justice to any of them. The program embraces from twenty- eight to thirty-six recitation periods a day, all of which must receive the attention of one teacher. In view of the fact that school law prohibits more than six hours actual work for each day, should the teacher use every minute of that time for recitation, he can give only twelve minutes to each of his thirty classes. In a good graded school, not less than thirty minutes is devoted to each recitation. Often algebra, higher arithmetic, and Kentucky history, studies which require a great deal of time in order to accomplish anything, are taught in the public school, perhaps to a 110 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY class of two or three pupils. Necessarily some classes must be neglected, and consequently the A, B, C and First Reader grades suffer. Parents, feeling that their children are not leaming much, take them from school. Once discouraged and tired of the dull schoolhouse, it is difficult to interest children in school again. Thus the public school, under such conditions, misses the aim for which it was created, to give primary instraction. The writer knows from experience that it is hard to deny the request of a student who asks for instraction in the higher branches, but the teacher should realize that in assuming that obligation, he is robbing the younger children, who so much need his personal attention. We are looking forward with fond hopes to the next Legislature for the passage of the High School Bill,* which provides for the creation of a high school in each county. The passage of this bill will give the advanced stu dents of the county a convenient and suitable place to continue their education and prepare for college. If the people demand this of their legislators, we can have this important addition to Kentucky school laws. 'This bill was introduced by Hon. Taylor P. Gabbard, of Owsley County, during the session of igo6, and no doubt would have become a law had there not been a number of school bills and important questions previously introduced, demanding the attention of the Legislature^ which prevented Its coming to a vote. EDUCATION 117 When this bill is passed, and the public schools are graded upon the plan of the school at Burning Springs, Clay County, education will receive an impetus which will raise the standard in a marked degree. The workers of Berea College each year have under their instraction many stu dents who have not had proper training early in life. As a result they established this school for primary instraction, hoping that it may serve as an example to show the real value of such schools. It is carefully graded, and the primary class receives as much attention as the highest grade. The outlook for the high school and the graded public scUqoI in the near future is hopeful. Another plan which is very successful and manifests the strong sentiment for higher education, is that of converting the district school into a graded school. The public fund is used as a basis, and contributions and local taxation are added to make the fund large enough to estabUsh and maintain a good school. The public school of the little village of Kensee, Whitley County, draws $575 from the State fund. The citizens gladly pay a local tax of $1,425, which swells the whole amount to $2,000. A graded school of 200 pupils is maintained for ten months each year. This amount provides suitable buildings, with all necessary apparatus, and pays the teacher a handsome salary. The 118 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY patrons are delighted to know that their children can, on leaving the school, enter a high school and be properly classified, and also to know that, as the number of teach ers increase, the higher branches are to be added to the course in this school. The time has come when the people are willing to invest tiieir time and money in order that their children may not be denied their inherited right the opportunity for a good education. This being trae, the outlook is encouraging. Tlie history of the human race shows that public sentiment moves to action the parties to which the power and purse are entrasted, and we feel confident that the public school of the future will be far superior to the public school of the past The time is rapidly approaching when the dream of a high school in each county will be a reaUty. The teaching of advanced studies will be omitted from the free school, and the plan of grading will be adhered to more strictly. The present educational enthusiasm will continue, and soon the public school of Kentucky will wit ness the flickering Ught of night's candle buming out, and behold her own promotion, until she stands tip-toe on the misty mountain top. CHAPTER VII. EDUCA TION.— (Continued). SECONDARY EDUCATION. The public school is not the only educational factor in Eastem Kentucky. There are a number of private in stitutions, some of which are graded schools, others are confined to normal work. But the high schools, normal schools and academies, which are under the supervision of various Christian organizations, constitute by far the greatest factor in secondary education. Space will not permit a detailed account of even one of these academies, but the following is a brief sketch of one located near the home of the writer. About twenty- two years ago. three patriotic gentlemen in a mountain town, realizing the need of a good educational institution. undertook to establish such a school. Efforts were made to found the school by the sale of stock, but the citizens did not readily respond. The business men of the various classes were Kentuckians of sturdy stock, and would have (119) 1*0 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY generously contributed; but this was a new enterprise, and they could not foresee its value, and this plan failed. But these gentlemen whose hearts were in the work were un dismayed. They subscribed five hundred dollars each and began the erection of a building. Unaided, yet they pushed the work to the completion of the building, which cost nearly four thousand dollars. In the meantime, the school was begun in a deserted hall, but now was moved to the new building in good faith, and with fair prospects for success. But the real growth of the school began in 1888, when the Christian Woman's Board of Missions assumed control. The attendance began to increase, new buildings were put under constraction, and a new corps of teachers was employed. Interest which was already awakened, now became intense. Advanced studies were added to the curriculum, and the teachers whose schools had closed came in after the holidays to secure a more diorough education, and prepar ation was made for normal instraction. As the years have gone by, the attendance has steadily increased, and now each year more than four hundred students receive instrac tion in the institution. To meet the demands of the stu dents, the literary course has been extended until two years of regular college work is done. The departments of music, business and Bible have been added. Yet the EDUCATION 121 demands are not satisfied, and the new industrial depart ment, which is soon to be added, will fumish instraction to a number of students. The appearance of the town has greatly changed. To have visited it fifteen years ago and to visit it today, one would not recognize it as the same place. The ale house is no longer there, but a beautiful church instead. "Loafer's Glory" is no more a thriving place, for the academy building is a more attractive and desirable place, and the boys prefer to assemble there. The population has greatly increased and the tone of society is much better. The streets and pavements are neat and clean. The whole appearance is changed. But that which is most attractive is the tall and stately academy building, situated on a beautiful campus just south of town. Two or three well-constracted dormitories add to the appear ance. Tlie influence of this institution can not be over estimated. It has prepared the clerks and business men for more efficient work. Many of the young and able of ficers of the town, county and adjoining counties are in debted to the academy for their training. The most bril liant young lawyers in this section of the country took their literary course in this institution. These various courses have produced wonderful de velopment, but the normal department is the factor which 122 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY has done the most for the country. The large majority of the teachers in the county and adjoining counties have received training in this institution. They have gone forth from its walls with broader ideas, larger plans, and greater determination to do effective work. It is not easy to esti mate the real wortii of well-trained teachers in the public schools. The Bible department, which has recently been estab lished, is preparing a number of young men for the minis try. The interest which they have in the upbuilding of their country is sufficient to induce them to remain for work in the mountains. The great power for morality and religion, combined with the work of Christian teach ers, will double the force which has been working, and greater results will be attained. Like the gradual rising of the ocean tide, the intellectual and moral standard of the country is being raised. This is the prime object of this institution, and it is nobly accomplishing its purpose. It is revolutionizing the ideas of the people of a large section of country. Those who are familiar with the history of Hazel Green Academy, situated in Eastem Kentucky, may rec ognize the preceding pages as having reference to this institution, although such an account falls far short of do ing justice to the school. It is hard to give due credit to EDUCATION 128 an institution which has raised to a higher plane, the social, industrial, intellectual and moral standards of a large sec tion of country. This institution was chosen as a model to show the vast influence these various schools have on the Mountain People. A similar description could have been written of Lees Collegiate Institute, at Jackson, Ky.; the normal school, at Morehead, the academies at West Liberty, Williamsburg, Prestonburg, London, and several otiiers. Some of these institutions have more departments, more teachers, larger attendance, and more extensive courses than the one described, while others are not so extensive in their work. But they all give normal instraction and adhere strictly to religious principles. Not only those who preach or teach, but those who receive business and indus trial training, leave school morally equipped to wield an influence for good wherever they go. That it may be thoroughly understood what these institutions stand for, and the attitude they bear to the Mountain People, I will give the design of one of them which answers, in substance, for them all: "This acad emy is established as a mission for the Kentucky moun tains ; hence its very low rate of tuition, and the offer of its managers to educate, free of charge, the worthy indigent. It is intended to bring it within the reach of the poorest in IM THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY this world's goods to secure a good education. It is hoped that the academy may serve as a stepping-stone to college and a higher sphere in life to some who otherwise might never have an inspiration beyond the life of their fathers. By giving young men and women a taste of better things, we hope to fill them with a noble ambition to rise in Ufe." The one great design is to give a good academic edu cation to serve as a stepping-stone to college. This path, which leads to college, is one in which the mountain youth should be supremely interested, and one which he should follow. It is not until the mountain student enters college that he realizes that several of the best years of his Ufe have been practically wasted, because his early school training was not systematic. If the public school irdomg such a noble work, then someone asks: "Why does it not advance the pupils like a graded school?" Observa tion and experience answer the question in audible words: The pupil in the district school studies the same old his tory, physiology and geography fop seven or eight years, when one year in a good graded school would adequately prepare him for a higher class. Thus, at the age of twen ty, he enters college and is classed in a grade which, had his early training been systematic he could have entered at fifteen. The writer remembers a number of students under similar conditions, whom he met five years ago. EDUCATION 125 Some were unusually intelUgent and had high ambitions to complete a college course. But unawares, the age limit for study crept upon them, and the inclination to work grew stronger than the love for Latin, history and mathe matics, and now they are handicapped with an unfinished education, competing with the straggles of life. Had they been ready for the freshman year of college when they entered the preparatory department, they would not have become discouraged, but would have left the college walls v^tii their A. B. degrees, and now, would have been fairly well established in a profession. Too much emphasis can not be placed upon early training. The old proverb, "Bring a child up in the way he should go and when old, he will not depart from it," should be vividly remembered by parents and all others who are interested in the upbuilding of humanity. It is impossible to bring children up m the right way unless they can be given the advantage of good schools. The states which early took decided steps for a high educational standard, have never regretted their efforts. Massachusetts is an example of a state which has always fostered a high educational spirit, and has always stood for stringent educational laws. Almost three centuries ago, while an infant colony, she began her educational sys tem, according to Horace Mann, upon the following 126 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY principles: "1. The successive generations of men, taken collectively, constitute one great commonwealth. 2. The property of this commonwealth is pledged for the educa*' tion of all its youth up to such a point as will save them from poverty and vice, and prepare them for the adequate performance of their social and civil duties. 3. The suc cessive holders of this property are trastees, bound to the faithful execution of their trast by the most sacred obliga tions." This is the attitude which the colony early took toward education in general, and to show more especially her foresight in providing for schools to prepare students for college, I here give an extract from the law of 1647: "And it is further ordered that where any town shall in crease to the number of one hundred famiUes or house holders, they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instract the youths so far as they may be fitted for the university; and if any town neglect the performance hereof above one year, then every such town shall pay five pounds per annum to the next such school, till they shall perform this order." In this law it is evident the school system of Massa chusetts had its birth. Schools did not spring up all at once and throughout the state, nor were all of equal effi ciency ; the school course was not yet fixed; resources were EDUCATION 127 limited; teachers were poorly prepared; there were no elementary texts and no school organization. With every support of the law, there were many hindrances. As a matter of fact, there was hardly a precedent in the world's history for such universal education. The attempt must have seemed, to the nations looking on. as the irrational presumption of a youthful colony. The law was a public measure, and sought the school ing of all ; not the poor alone, or of preference, nor selected schools for the sons of ministers and magistrates, nor family schools, but schools then efficient, but formulated later upon the principle, "They must be cheap enough for all and good enough for the best." Great stress was placed upon this provision for the grammar school which should give instraction in such branches as were necessary to prepare the student for Harvard. They belonged to a type of preparatory school, characteristic of New Eng land, the original of the best, modem, secondary institu tion. Still further, the law was mandatory, a penalty was attached for a town's neglect. The original forfeit of five pounds was increased in 1671, 1683 and 1718 success ively, to correspond with the increasing wealth of the towns, to a penalty of sixty pounds for a town of three hundred inhabitants. 12» THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The great value which Massachusetts and her citi zens have attained from her well-founded and well-sup ported school system is obvious. But to compare the school system of Massachusetts with that of Eastem Ken tucky would be an unjust comparison in point of efficiency, for it must be remembered that only a few decades ago the mountains of Kentucky were practically unsettled, and the sparse population and physical conditions have been impediments to progress. But with all the disadvantages, there has been a steady improvement and the citizens take advantage of every opportimity. For this reason, absolute faith may be put in them to support any worthy enterprise. In point of interest in education, they may be com pared with the people of the Bay State. It is gratifying to see how cordially they welcome, and how ardently they support these institutions which stand for religion and higher education. Berea College, situated in Madison County, among the foothills of the Cumberiand Mountains, is the oldest and largest of these institutions of secondary education. It has so deeply touched and influenced the Ufe of this region that the results are distinctly visible. Through the aid of the generous donors, and skillful management by its officers, this institution of fifty years* standing, has reached thousands of mountain students. It has not only been able EDUCATION 129 to provide for the boys and girls who have come to its walls, but also to maintain branch schools even at a loss of several hundred dollars each year, and to send libra ries, lecturers and Sunday school workers into outlying districts. The institution has always been able to secure the services of able officers and teachers. Its aim has always been Christian. It originated from Fee's church, a church for all denominations. All through her long his tory, the intellectual work has been characterized by a deep religious earnestness. Since there is no denomina tional teaching, the power of the great doctrine of Chris tianity stands out all the more prominently. But there is one principle of Berea which stands out prominently and which should enlist the sympathy and co-operation of all the Mountain People, and that principle lies in the fact that she endeavors to send her educated sons and daugh ters back to their counties to become leaders among their own people. She teaches not alone by precept but by example, for during vacation some of her own teachers work in this region. President Frost's chief distinction has been in recog nizing and bringing to public attention the mountain region of the south as one of the grand divisions of our country. He first drew the map of this region with the name "Ap- 180 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY palachian America." And he studied the origin, history, needs, and promise of its people, lifting them above the misconceptions under which they had labored, and arous ing an educational movement in their behalf which has affected "the mountainous back-yards of eight states."* Situated on the dividing line between the mountain and blue-grass regions, Berea is an avenue through which the mountain boys and girls get a broader vision of life. It is here that hundreds of students each year receive in spiration, encouragement, and an opportunity to get an education which means a life of happiness and larger use fulness. As a rale the class of students who attend Berea could not, for financial reasons, attend anywhere else. This class of students have not only the intellect but the will and determination to use the opportunities presented to them. President Frost says, "The poor boy is the hope of the Mountains of Kentucky." This is doubly trae; first, from the fact that most of us are financially poor boys comparatively speaking, but rich in the endowments of nature; second, the poorest of the poor when educated, wields the greater influence for good in his community. No student should scom an opportunity for self support while receiving an education. The world will lose a large •Historical sketch. EDUCATION 181 part of its charms when the time comes, if it shall ever come, when there is no dignity in honest toil. There is hardly a county in this region which has not sent sons and daughters to this institution. Three-fourths of the teachers in several counties have received training at Berea. and officers in many counties have been educated here. These students, teachers, and officers are almost invariably earnest Christians, and wield an influence which affects the moral and intellectual life of this entire region. Thus, unconsciously this educational and moral development has gone on under the benign Influence of this institution; and one cannot without eamest reflection realize the value of this institution which has for more than fifty years been laboring unceasingly among boys and girls who so much need and who so readily respond to the ad vantages which Berea offers. ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD EDUCATION. It Is apparent that there is a strong movement on the part of religious organizations to place schools of higher leaming within the reach of every mountain boy and giri. A large number have already been established and the fact that the last decade has seen at least eighty per cent of them in their infancy, is proof that the enthusiasm for 181 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY the work is now at a very high pitch. I cannot portray the situation in more appropriate language than that of Shakespeare: "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune : Omitted, all the voyage of their Ufe is bound in shal lows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must serve the current as it comes or lose our ven tures." This application may not be quite just smce the phi lanthropists. Christian teachers, and other friends to the Mountain People would not abandon their work even though they did not meet a very cordial reception. But it is trae that we are now afloat on that full sea, and the next few years wiU largely determine to what extent this work may be successfully carried on. Therefore, in a great measure, the attitude of the people toward this work is the key to success or failure. The fact that so many of these institutions have sprung up in such a short time is evidence that the Mountain Peo ple are anxious for education. The children are anxious to attend these schools and the parents are glad to send them. There is scarcely a single one of these institutions which does not add some new features each year. The addition of recitation rooms, and dormitories, the exten- EDUCATION 188 sion of courses and the addition of departments is a regu lar occurrence. The Morehead Normal for lack of room has recentiy turned away more than one hundred students. Smaller institutions in the adjacent country are being built to accommodate them. Ninety-three applied for admission into the Williamsburg Institute, more than could be given dormitory accommodations, and forty-five of them had to retum to their homes or to some other institution. The Hazel Green Academy is full and overflowing. Berea College which has the facility for erecting dormitories and other buildings within a few weeks, has managed to accommodate the one thousand and twenty-five students enrolled during the school year of 1 906. These are only illustrations; similar statements could be made of a num ber of other institutions. Space will permit me, only briefly to illustrate the generosity with which the Mountain People have given their means to support these schools. The Presbyterian Synod entered the small village at Smith, Harian County, a few weeks ago and organized a small church. The citizens contributed $600 and they have been promised a chapel schoolhouse to cost not less than $1,500. At Inez, Martin County, a church was organized, and $1,700 was pledged one Monday forenoon, and the people there are promised a $4,500 building to be used 184 THE MOUTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY as a chapel and academy. Two years ago the High School, at Columbia, Adair County, was about to be sold for debt, when the Woman's Board of New York City came to its aid with an appropriation of $500 per year; $1,700 was raised on the field. This paid the school out of debt, made the necessary repairs and built the teacher a home. The school is now flourishing. Three years ago the Presbyterian Synod entered the little town of Manchester, Clay County, without fund or building. The people contributed $2,000 and Dr. Will iam Hubbard's Church at Auburn, New York, gave sup port, and the Edward Hubbard Memorial Institution is doing good work. An academy was founded at Mt. Ver non, Rockcastie County, and left three years to straggle alone; but generous friends have now come to its aid. There is a beautiful little church and school building worth $6,000. A $10,000 dormitory was erected in 1 905. The instihition is now prospering. The citizens of Harlan, Harlan County, give more to home missions than any church in the Presbytery. They also help to support their own church, academy, Sunday school, and Chris tian Endeavor. Besides gifts in money, friends of many of these institutions offer gold medals, gold watches, and other incentives to the successful competitors in the de clamatory and oratorical contests, and for deportment and scholarship. • EDUCATION 186 The majority of these schools have been established in the villages and towns; but the plan of consolidating raral districts which is working admirably In twenty-eight states in the Union has been introduced Into the mountains of Kentucky, with genuine success. Under the super vision of the Congregational Church, three districts have combined at Evarts, Harian County, and have built up an institution which is doing good work. There are three teachers and two hundred pupils. The school is graded, the higher branches are taught, and it will soon grow into an academy. The growth of these secondary institutions seems mar velous, but it is a simple story of benevolent societies work ing for a responsive people. They invigorate and uplift the life in the adjacent country and furnish teachers, and students In other vocations which touch the life in more remote communities. Education which has so long been needed to unlock these mountain fastnesses, and reveal the trae intellectual life of the people Is now doing its work with wonderful results. Education is building good roads, telephones, telegraphs, better church houses and schoolhouses; it is standing for law and order. encouraging industries, and enlightening the country. The enterprise of the people is sufficient to insure a continual success. CHAPTER VIII. POLITICS. Next to the law of morality, whose judiciary is con science and whose author is God, comes the civil and political law. For this law there can be no substitute. Communities must have rales by which differences can be adjusted, order and peace secured, and happiness pro moted. Not to the dry details of statutory law do I refer, but to general principles upon which all political and social institutions are founded. The common expression "Poli tics is politics" to a large extent is trae, and what may be said of politics in the Mountains of Kentucky may in a general way be applied to politics in any section of our country. But machinery and chicanery are not intentionally resorted to in politics to corrapt individuals, social organ ization and govemment, as some people think. They are resorted to for financial gain, personal ambition, and personal aggrandizement. This statement applies not (IST) 188 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY merely to conditions in Kentucky alone — ^its application is universal. But in our own mountain country, I have known candidates to spend twice and three times the sal ary of the office. In such cases, candidates are so wrought up with an ambition to win that they forget that to secure an election under such circumstanceis gives neither honor nor financial profit This is not only a rash ambition, but a foolish one. Unconsciously, men who mean to be trae patriots, permit the temptation of a political life gradual ly to derange their judgment, and as a result, they become politically corrapt This does not mean that the moun tain counties have not now and have not always had good men in politics. Our mountain ancestors were not cor rapt politicians. The sturdy old hunters and farmers did not have to contend for office, for the public affairs were entrasted without contention to the best men, and they performed their duty in a simple and plain business way. They had become simple, in their customs, from living near to nature, yet they managed public affairs with loyal hearts and convictions which were deep and reUgious. Such was the beginning of mountain poUtical Ufe. It has always been the desire of the trae citizens to keep the gov emment in the hands of men \vrho would preserve the pure and high standard which our forefathers set; but men with money, relatives, and chicanery, have often misled YOUNG LAWYERS. Stephen G. Sample. Wolfe County. Rutherford B. Roberts. Clay County. POLITICS 180 and defeated the will of the people, and political cormp tion has at times become extreme. As was stated in substance in the beginning of this chapter, politics in the Mountains of Kentucky, for more than a generation has differed but little from politics in the northem states, westem plain, or the more "Sunny South." It has not measured up to the standard set by our forefathers, — the founders of our great republic. The dominating parties in some counties have become so cor rapt that their primary elections are games of rascality, often ending in contests for the alleged stuffing of the ballot box, unfair count and various other charges of fraud. In some counties, political rings have been formed and a few men belonging to the majority party have con trolled the elections and held the offices for years. So confident were such organizations that they could retain their political sway, by concealing their treachery, that corraption, although beginning in a mild form, has grown until public treasuries in such counties have been robbed of thousands of dollars. In several counties taxes have been paid to the extent of the law for years, no improve ments have been made, and the counties are in debt. The cry for the past few years has been: "Where has our money gone>" A similar cry has been heard for some 140 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY years in Philadelphia, Boston, and indeed all over our land. The answer is obvious. The political demagogues have lived high and have had money to use in a re-elec tion. Did the poor tax-paying voters become tired of this method of running business? Why should they not when they have paid money enough to macadamize half the roads in the country and bridge the streams, and now, during the wet season, must travel almost impassable roads and are often unable to cross the swollen streams? Indeed they became tired of it and began to investi gate the cause. It was easy enough to discover that the demagogue does not look out for the interest of the people. Such discovery is enough to bring about his defeat. The people became interested in his game and leamed his cunning motive. They found that he regarded them as pawns upon a chess board to be played one against the other for the benefit of those who managed the game. They beheld in the near future the doom of decent gov emment, and their children inthralled in political bondage as bad as chattel slavery. Opposition to this evil has become too strong to per mit it to continue. The same spirit which moved the people of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Mary land on the seventh day of November, 1905, to condemn POLITICS 141 corraption and rally to the support of honest men and better principles, was manifested by the voters of Eastem Kentucky at the same election. It was like a fire which had long been smouldering, now bursting into flames. One county which has for many years caused much anxiety on account of its political corraption, is now full of promise of political peace. The political schemers, and the corrapt office holders of the dommating party, v/ho have for years controlled die elections were replaced by men of higher character; and as a result, men who have formerly been bitter political opponents and even avowed enemies, have freely indulged in hearty hand shakes, and order and peace are restored. The result of the election in this county is a fair ex ample of the views of the people of the Mountains of Kentucky toward politics. Strong partisans tumed a, deaf ear to the pleadings of their old leaders, and aided the minority party to elect their candidates by large majori ties. The newly elected officers have entered upon their duties "With malice toward none but charity for all," and it seems that a new and brighter political era has just dawned in this county. Other counties which have always been strongly Re publican, tumed out of doors officers of their party who had continually misused the trast reposed in them and 142 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY selected Democrats of more sterling character. Demo crats in other counties met a Uke fate. In counties where the parties were both corrapt, independent candidates were elected as they were in New York and Boston. The strongest indication of the awakening in favor of good men and fair play, was the large number of coun ties that elected only good solid candidates of the ma jority party, and sent the unqualified candidates back to their homes for a more thorough preparation, and the "Outlaw" candidates back for a reformation. While there are still a number who are Democrats without any reason except that their fathers were, and many are Re publicans for a similar reason, yet the present tendency is to vote for the best interest of the country. The old idea that it is a disgrace to "scratch the ticket" is passing away, and men vote for the man regardless of party af- fiUations. In many of our states and in communities in other states, if an official does not do his duty, when his term expires, he retires to the background in politics. Since the people elect the officers, it rests entirely with them whether good men or bad serve their country, for there are always candidates of each class. Who has not noticed the dif ference in govemment where one party is always in power and where the parties altemate? Political parties are a POLITICS 148 necessity, and the more equally divided the better the gov ernment, for then the balance wheel turns by fewer votes, and he who does not his duty can easily determine his destiny. It is certainly gratifying to know that the results of the last election indicate clearly that none of our coun ties are so strongly in the grip of one party that there are not enough patriots in that party to balance the power to the other side when their leaders become corrapt. In national politics, the man is to be admired who ad heres strictly to party principles when he believes that the principles for which he stands are the best for the country ; but when it comes to local elections, a different and a much simpler problem confronts the people. It is a question of who will best serve the people. It is not a matter of party principle when it comes to deciding between two candidates for school superintendent; the question is, who is best qualified and who will do most for the schools. It is not a matter of party principle when it comes to de ciding between candidates for magistrate or judge; but which one will render a decision according to the law in stead of the way that some "friend" lawyer would have it go. It is not a question of party principle when a de cision is to be made between candidates for sheriff, but it is a question of which one will do his duty and not "break" and leave the county a few thousand dollars in debt. At 144 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY last die people have grown tired of slothful superintend ents, dishonest judges and treasury-robbbg sheriffs. The use of money in poUtics can be illustrated by the following incident A friend of the writer, a Sunday School evangelist in an adjoining county, met a candidate for county judge, who began to soUcit his support He said: "I have made two races previous to this one; in one I spent four hundred dollars, and in the other twenty-five hundred, and I think it would be right for me to have the office so that I might get back the money which I spent." My friend asked him why he had spent so much money. "Oh," he replied, "I put out some whiskey and my friends used some of the money and somehow it was gone, and now there is a mortgage on my little farm and if I am not elected, I don't see what I am to do." My friend expressed himself as sorry for the man's family, but told him that a man who would be so corrapt to secure an election, would hardly deal out justice from the bench. The candidate did not have time to talk any longer; and the two separated. He was not elected. There has always been an opposition to the use of money in elections; but the opposition has grown until it serves as a check upon the candidates, however ambitious for election they may be. More races were made last election in Eastem Kentucky without an excessive use of POLITICS 145 money than in any election for several years previous. It was not only ramored in various communities that the man who came into the precinct with money or whiskey would lose votes by such action, but such word was sent directly to candidates. The people will no longer tolerate such political practices. Another plea once commonly used by candidates was a speech something Uke this: "I have lived in the county for fifty years and have never asked for any office. My people have not been an office-seeking people. If the people will elect me county judge, I'll retire at the close of my term and never ask for another office." On the surface, that seems a fair proposition, but somehow the people don't listen much to such pleas nowa days. They decide more from the candidate's character and qualifications than from appeals for favor and sym pathy. If a man makes a good officer, he does not have to retire but is asked to serve another term and is often re elected without opposition. Such a political tendency gives cause for great and sincere rejoicing. But tills political reformation is confined largely to the magisterial district and county elections! for here the evils are more easily seen. In the choosing of represen tatives, there is still an existing evil, which is a matter of custom and seems to be a fair and satisfactory method of selecting officers. Some districts are so arranged tiiat 14« THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Republican counties and Democratic counties are com bined into separate districts, thus prohibiting party compe tition ; and by this system, it is only possible to give alter nately the representation, to the two, three, or four counties. Such customs are in danger of becoming political bargains. Leaders grovir worse under their influence and the very anticipation is corrapt. It is a mortgage on political power which should be used impartially for all. The demoraUz- ing effects are as great as that of war. It matters not as to a man's ability; under such stringent customs he can not succeed himself. Thus the mountain districts nearly always have new men in the House of Representatives. During one session a representative can become only sufficiently acquainted with the members and the nature of the work to take part in the business. There is more trath than poetry in the old, familiar story of how the newly-elected legislator on arriving at the capital found the capitol building. "He approached a colored boy and offered to bet him twenty-five cents that he could outran him to the capitol. The bet was taken and the race begun. The representative got a slow start but kept close on the heels of his competitor until they reached the building. The boy demanded the quarter and the gentleman willingly handed it over, at the same time expressing surprise at his defeat The winner tumed and POLITICS 147 started to retrace his steps, whistling over his easily made "quarter," while the man was no less happy as he smiled at the Ingenious plan that enabled him to find the capitol. He has a similar introduction to the various methods of procedure, and toward the close of .the session begins to feel that he is prepared to take part In the discussions and perhaps introduce a bill which his district needs very much, but it is now too late; the session is over and he must retum home without having even introduced the measures which the people had instracted him to advocate for them. The people are disappointed for they cannot understand why their representatives do so little. A visit to the legislature will convince any person of the reason why. The "old timers" who are sent from other parts of the state, session after session, manage the proceedings. There are Invariably so many bills introduced that all can not be considered, so every man is working for his bill and a new member has a small chance to affect legis lation. Both Lincoln and McKmley were scarcely recog nized during their first terms in the legislature. From my observations during a short visit to the session, Febraary, 1906, I could name a number of our young mountain representatives, who would, if sent back, wield an influence in the next. session. Will the people continue to divide up this office as a family of children would equally share an inherited real 148 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY estate, or will they elect their strongest men regardless of county? Will they do it regardless of party? The pres ent tendencies indicate that the time is coming when such a course will be largely followed. The sturdy voters will not retreat from this attitude. These patriotic citizens who have realized that it is a mistake to allow party adherence to induce them to vote for a corrapt man are not confined to any one party. They are in all parties. They have been voting more along party lines in the past than they will in the future. The reason for this is that they have come to reaUze as never before the enormity of exist ing evils in county, city, and state administrations, and they have determined to remedy them. They will no longer cast their votes for the party with which they have formerly affiliated simply because it is the party of their past; they are at last judging men not by the party but by their character and ability. The time is coming when the people of Eastem Ken tucky will no longer stand in their own light. Political freedom, civil liberty, and equal rights may be kept in the background by political demagogues for a time; but the restriction of such rights will be finally overthrown by joint action, irrespective of political affiliation, by men who love freedom and equaUty. Not only the people of Eastem Kentucky but the people of the Commonwealth POLITICS 149 of Kentucky are becoming tired of having politics enter into the courts and set justice aside. They are arraying their voices against assassination high or low, and asking for a fair trial for every man, whether a Jett or a Howard, a Hargis or a Powers. But the men who have stood in ranks and labored to instract and induce the citizens to bring about this re form, know that the straggle has just begun. Will they continue the work which they have thus far so nobly advanced? So it is to be hoped, and it is believed they will. The people know the manner of the crimes and by whom they have been committed. In every district, in every county, the people know all political aspirants well enough to predict with a large degree of certainty, who will best fill an official position. They are acting upon their judgment. They are now familiar with the long and loathsome story of the degradation of public life. If they, after seeing the fraits of political corruption and the good results of political purity, do not stand out as bold representatives for purity in politics, it is because they pre fer political dishonesty. The recent results strongly in dicate that tiiey do not prefer such, and that it will be tolerated no longer. The high moral and intellectual culture of the pres ent day will not suffer the public to be sacrificed to po- 160 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY litical ambition. The depth of principle will frown out of existence any attempt to appeal to men's prejudices and passions. But look to the future. The old warriors will pass away, and the young men will assume the respon sibility. What they will, must soon be law, and thus their political views determine the destiny of the country. We look to them with fond anticipation. While many are reared in such an atmosphere that they are strong partisans without any satisfactory reason; yet other loyal, patriotic, far-sighted young men hesitate to give their poUtical views until their knowledge is suf ficient to justify their opinion. The tendency not to unite with any party until the age of twenty-one is reached, is growing, and as a result, the son does not always vote in the same column as his father. To these young men belong die duty and the glory of carrying on the warfare. . But they must scom the sug gestion of those who are leaving the sinking ship of poli tics, to vie with them in new schemes for the same old trade. They must consecrate themselves to their work, not for what they may financially accumulate, but for what good they may do for their country. Such motives for the young men of our country will soon restore our politics to the old standard of dignity and honor, and rest them again upon trae reUgion and trae POUTICS 161 patriotism. Such service is worthy of the noblest ambi tion. It is such service as Washington gave us; a service for which Warren fell at Bunker Hill, and Lincoln and McKinley became martyrs. It ennobles all its participants to be the defenders of a cause which will in the future eradicate this political evil and reflect credit upon our mountain country. Not until the words, "The Best Man" are inscribed in every heart, and over the door of every voting hall in our land, and plainly visible under the name of the best qualified candidate, will our govemment be traly a "Govemment of the people, by the people, and for the people." The aim of trae citizens has always been to place responsible men in the official positions, and in general, they have been successful. The greatest frauds have been in primary elections, but attention is directed to these, and a political awakening is taking place all over our country. This change is being effected because the people are leam ing more of the principles of govemment and are review ing the results of the misuse of these principles. The class of men who necessarily must depend upon a glance at the papers and political speeches for information, now have leaders in whom they can place a greater trast. They are receiving information other than the declamations and declarations of the office seekers, who attempt to wm their m THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY applause and their votes by stirring up their prejudices and appealing to their passions. Men imbued with love of country and hate of evil are coming to the front, exposing corraption and offering their services to assist in the movement to purify politics. The mass of voters, in whose hands lies the power to purify politics, have at last realized that they must rise up in a body and select men who will honestly and faith fully serve their country instead of serving themselves and the political ring. They have tolerated poUtical corraption until it has become unbearable and unendur able. The political awakening in the Mountains of Kentucky is like that of the November election of 1905, in a few other states. A mortifying and overwhelming defeat was inflicted upon the political "Boss" of Cincinnati, and the Republican candidate for govemor was dragged down with him because of a supposed alUance. The courageous attitude mamtained in Maryland for so many years was finally justified, by a like victory over the same evil system. In New York and Boston, both the Democratic and Re publican parties had become so corrapt that candidates without affiliations with any party were sought by the sup porters of honest politics and elected by large majorities. The eighth commandment, "Thou shall not steal,** was YOUNG POUTICIANS. Taylor P. Gabbard. Legislator. 1906. Owsley County. Jehiza p. Haney. Attorney for Morgan County. POLITICS 168 introduced into politics in Pennsylvania; and above the doorway of every office in the Philadelphia City Hall, the people have inscribed in legible characters this legend : "No man who assisted in subjecting Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to the corrapt system now overthrown need enter here." Mr. Wayne MacVeagh, writing in the North Amer ican Review, says: "The reappearance of the moral law as an indispensable element in our system of govemment ought to be a source of great encouragement to all good citizens. The contest between honest politics and dis honest politics, for the initiation of which we are indebted to Governor Folk of Missouri, has now been waged in many cities and states with a resulting victory for right in almost every instance; and the degrading and demoral izing system heretofore accepted, has at last met the con demnation it so justly deserved and which by our cow ardly acquiescence it has too long escaped," The various political leaders who have fallen into corrapt political practices, for the greed of the almighty dollar, or to elevate themselves to notice, now realize that the wrong step was taken. The mass of voters, or enough at least to control the balance of power, will no longer tolerate barbaric practices, but have determined to have honest political results. Those who have been respon- 104 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY lible for the past results, by betraying their sacred trust, can no longer prosper in politics without abandoning their evil ways and placing themselves upon an equality with all other persons desiring to enter the public service and submitting their qualifications to the impartial judgment of the voters. The common voters will not always have to fight the battle for honest politics alone for they have lead ers trained by religious institutions, who are sounding the call in the din of battle, and a contagious spirit for right is sweeping over this entire section. The words spoken by Secretary Taft just after the election, should be familiar to all: *'Those who brought about the defeat of the machine, can not afford to lie back on their oars and think they have won a lasting victory. They have merely carried the first intrenchments. What is needed is the eamest attention and work of young men entering politics with the unselfish desire to make them bet ter and who will strive for open conventions, and a free choice by the people of all candidates for office. Such a victory will not be complete for several years." No doubt some of the disorganized parties, with some of their defeated leaders, will spring up in new combina tions ready for another fight, but it seems impossible that they can rally with much success after such a crashing defeat. The victory was so complete that cheerful coun- POLITICS 106 tenances and sparkling eyes beheld the light of a new day which was visible all around the horizon on the morning of the eighth of November, 1 905, and the victors should be grateful that the eighth commandment is to again take its place in our national politics. Not only the leaders, but every man who stood for honest men, and honest politics, can not be too highly eulo gized. The roll of honor on which their names are legibly Inscribed will not fade from the sight of trae hearted patriots for generations to come. Their noble deeds can not be erased from the pages of history. Their physical beings shall retum to dust, but their names will not be for gotten. The future of such noble men Is trathfully, and beautifully described by a poet in the following words: "These shall resist the empire of decay. When time is o'er and worlds have passed away; Cold in the dust, their perished hearts may Ue. But that which warmed them once can never die." CHAPTER IX. RELIGION. During the pioneer days of a country when a few settlers seem to be lost in the gloomy forest, mmisters rare, meeting houses unknown, and education neglected, religion is characterized by a sort of superstition. This was trae of the religion of the early mountain settiers. Reminiscences of the old world survivals, or practices bor rowed from the savages or evolved by the very force of the strange surroundings, created this peculiar religious feeling; yet beneath all this, they were deeply religious in their tendencies, and the cabins often contained Bibles, and the mothers instilled a reverence for religion into the minds of their children. The first religious meetings were held around the family fireside or under the shade of a friendly tree. When schoolhouses were built, they were used as places of worship, each minister usually having four places, preaching at each once every month. In some of the re motest districts, such is the custom to the present day, but religion has kept pace with the social and educational (IW) 168 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY development; yet there are many locaUties without a church house and a regular minister. But the school- houses in such communities are used for church services. The monthly, semi-monthly, and weekly meetings are well attended, and the sermons are eamestly delivered and often with much effect. THE MINISTER AND THE MEETING. The minister leaves his home on Saturday for a ride of five, ten, or more miles to the old log schooUiouse, or log church house, or perhaps the new frame building, which has recently been constracted. This is his regular monthly meeting, but he has preached at three other places since he has faced the audience of which he is now thinking. The beauties of nature all the more solemnize his thoughts as the narrow road leads him through the green woods, fragrant with the odor of wild flowers, through the pasture lands where the bleat of the sheep or neigh of the horse acknowledges his presence, or through the fields of golden grain which remind him of the good ness of God. Tlie songs of the birds home to him on the fragrant breeze so completely enshrouds him in reflection that he can hardly realize that his horse has carried him through the vales and over the rocky hills until he is now drawing near the meetmg house., Rev. Harlan Murphy, Morgan County. RELIGION 15Q The music of a familiar hymn which is being sung by the women and girls, accompanied by a few deep voices, now falls sweetly .on the minister's ear. As he comes in sight, he sees a number of men and boys assembled on the ground, awaiting his arrival. They may be gathered in groups of two or three, talking business or scripture, or gossiping; or perhaps the whole crowd is assembled around some witty fellow whose "funny" expressions fur nish them with amusement; but most likely the eager and interested listeners are gathered in a circle around two or three of their number who are engaged in a heated po litical or religious argument. As he joins the crowd the argument closes, he receives a handshake and hearty wel come from all, and moves on into the house, followed by the entire crowd. After greetings again and another song, he rises to speak. As he now stands before the audience, he has been pictured by many writers as being as ill-dressed as the ordinary farmer — ^wearing a cotton shirt, without col lar or tie, short and perhaps patched trousers, and brogan shoes. This description is not typical, although such ex treme cases may be. found. Nor would it be typical of the mountain preacher to describe the city minister with his white vest, silk tie, broadcloth, patent leather shoes, and finished education, altiiough ministers of tiiis type may IflO THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY be found in the mountain towns. Draw a line mid-Avay between these two extremes, and you have the typical mountam preacher. He is preaching to a plain people, and he is dressed accordingly. A plain suit, white shirt, and a nice pair of shoes make up his costume. His edu cation is limited, for the best educated men are usually teachers, lawyers, or doctors. Often he will not accept pay for his preaching, neither would the people be willing to pay him except by a generous offering, for in some; localities they believe it is wrong to give or receive pay for work done for the Master. This idea, however, is now held only in the remote districts. In the earlier days, and sometimes even now, the min ister makes no preparation for the sermon, but preaches from the text that comes to his mind after he faces the audience. Most of the people now realize that the min ister cannot do his congregation justice without spending some time in preparation. To make this sacrifice of time, he must have some source for subsistence. This idea, together with the enlightening of conditions, has modified the views in regard to paying him for his service. A small salary, usually with donations, constitute a mountain preacher's compensation. The custom of preaching from notes is looked upon witii much disfavor. , The speaker who comes before a RELIGION 161 mountain audience with a paper or notes in his hand loses the confidence of his hearers. With all his simplicity in dress and manners his ap pearance is such as to hold the esteem of his audience. He is not well versed in the knowledge of language, classics, and astronomy; but he is familiar with the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. As he warms up toward the close of his sermon — the exhortation, — ^he reveals an eamest, sincere, and magnetic personality which may be lacking in the college bred minister. Whatever may be his equipment, appearance, and personality, although he may be tired and covered with the dust of travel, he preaches a good short sermon on Saturday aftemoon and has a conference with the dea cons and elders. Some of the church brothers come in for the night service to assist in the meeting, the choir doubles its membership, and the meeting is enthusiastic; when the meeting is over, the neighbors invite the visiting friends to their homes. Early Sunday moming the peo ple begin to gather, and by eleven o'clock there is a large crowd and some additional preachers. At least two, and sometimes three or four ministers take part, and the meeting lasts until two o'clock; but no one seems to be tired. m THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY The closing song, handshake, and exhortation usually bring some to Christ, The arrangements are made then for the baptism, announcements are made for all the churches in that part of the country for several weeks ahead, and the meeting is closed. On tlie three succeed ing iSundays, some other preacher or preachers conduct the services in a similar way. Not all churches have this arrangement by which they have weekly meetings. Some have meetings only once each month, but most churches have two, three, or four services each month. A good deal of miscellaneous preaching is also done by men who send appointments ahead. The method of conducting funeral services is tmique. Several weeks or perhaps several months after the death, a service is held in memory of the deceased and the "funer al" is preached. This service has been announced in every church in the region for several Sundays, and all the relatives and friends of the deceased as well as the people for miles around are present. This is a soul-stir ring service, as the minister, in the tenderest words, relates die story of the life of the dead. The near relatives with agonizing hearts and sobs are gathered around to hear the story. All are touched by the recalling of old mem ories, and some of the family are very likely to unite with the church. RELIGION 183 The protracted revival, and camp meetings always result in a number of confessions for Christ. The quf^r- terly meetings of the Methodists, the associations of the Baptists, and the annual meeting of the Disciple Church are looked forward to as times for spiritual awakening and the forming of better plans for future work. The people for miles around attend these religious gatherings, and while not all attend for the purpose of worship, yet much good is accomplished, and the members from a series of conferences, carry back to their various communi ties renewed interest and broader plans. Much preaching is done by ministers who receive no salary or compensation of any kind. They work during the day, read their Bibles and prepare their sermons at night; but in all the counties the various denominations have at some point a central church organization and several churches in the surrounding country. MISSIONARY SCHOOLS. The missionary schools, which always have churches and Sunday schools in connection with them, are one of the strongest reUgious factors in the mountains. The stu dents not only receive intellectual training, but strict ad herence is given to religious training, and very few stu- ie4 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY dents attend one of these schools for even one term with out taking a stand for the Saviour. They not only re ceive the blessing of God upon themselves, but go out and organize Sunday schools and instill in others the lesson of Christ The principal Baptist schools are the WiUiamsburg Institute at Williamsburg, Whitley County; the Institute at Barboursville, Knox Couny; Bethel College at Rus- sellville; Clinton College; the Albany High School, in Clinton County; the Baptist Institute at Hazard, Perry County; the Oneida Institute, Clay County; and the Sal- yersville School, which has just begun with a brilliant prospect There are thirteen Presbyterian academies and in stitutions, and a large number of churches, some of which have been mentioned in the chapter on education. The McFariand Memorial, Pikeville, Pike County, begotten in poverty, piety and prayer, after a long straggle, has made a place for itself in the community, and is now en tering upon a new and enlarged stage of usefulness. Eight years ago there was one church at Hyden, the county seat of Leslie County, and not a single Sunday school in the county; now the county is dotted over with Sunday schools and there is an additional church at Hyden with more tiian one hundred members. Nine years ago Boone- RELIGION 165 ville, the county seat of Owsley County, was without a Presbyterian church. Now there is a church with a large membership, and an academy with an enrollment of two hundred students. There is also a church at Travelers Rest, Virgie Hoge Chapel, and one on Laurel Fork,, each with a large membership. Many Sunday schools are established and evangelistic work is very successful. There is a strong organization at Prestonsburg, Floyd County. Four years ago, the Synod was without representation at this place, and now a two-stoiy brick stracture is almost completed, which is to be used as a chapel and academy building. There is a series of preaching stations within a radius of a few miles of Prestonsburg, and at each one a school is to be established. The college at Burksville, Cumberiand County, onts of the oldest institutions in the mountains, has wielded a great moral and educational influence in diat part of the country. A few weeks ago the beautiful church building at Mt Cannel, Carter County, was dedicated. A large crowd was present — ^many coming long distances to wor ship. The little church has made sacrifices and shown wonderful enthusiasm to secure a house for worship which is a credit to the community. The church at Caywood, 166 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY Harlan County, has been successfully organized and many won to Christ. The new church at MonticeUo, Wayne County, starts witii prospects for a bright future. Within the last year a splendid academy building has been erected at West Liberty, Morgan County, and the school opens in a very favorable manner. The churches and Sunday schools there are well attended. The Dis ciple Church is doing strong mission work in the moun tains. The flourishing academy at Hazel Green, and the normal school at Morehead, under the supervision of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, are the strong est institutions. The Kentucky Christian Missionary As sociation* has the church force well organized and is spreading the gospel in nearly every county. Mission aries on salaries work regularly in Breathitt, Elliott, Har lan, Jackson, Morgan, Pike, Whitley, Estill, Rowan, Lee, Laurel, Wolf and several other counties. The Methodists have a missionary school at Campton ; the Congregationalists at Williamsburg; and each denomi nation is doing work similar to that of the other denomi nations. 'The annual report of the association for September ay, 190 s, shows ap proximately the foUowing results for the mountain counties. Twenty-eight missionary preachers; 4,000 days work; a,ooo sermons; 700 baptisms; 300 re claimed, or came into the church by letter; ijo churches aided; 50 ministers located; 40 officers appointed; 30 churches set in order; 300 officers' meetings; 3,000 religious visits; s churches, ao Sunday schools and ao prayer meetings organized. Nearly $xo,ooo were contributed, or pledged for local work, for eign and general missions. RELIGION 167 Report of one evangelist — six months work at ten sta tions — one hundred and fifty additions and $575 con tributed for missions. No attempt has been made to locate all the fields of work, to name all the institutions, or to portray their value. The object is to illustrate the character of the work. Each missionary school or central church or ganization means a large number of church workers. Sun day school organizers, and Christian teachers in the ad jacent country. The fact, that in a few counties there are two or more of these missionary schools, and in most of the larger towns there are two or more churches, is proof of the success of the efforts of the Christian workers. The good will for each other on the part of the forces which are at work, and the sacrifices which each force is willing to make, is very gratifying indeed. The missionary or minister is sup ported largely by the people on the field, but in part by the Christian societies. The minister rarely asks for a collection, and wants notiiing that is not freely given; but after the sermon or series of sermons, some member sug gests that a collection be taken for the minister. The hat is passed; or by the more common mediod, each places his contribution, amounting usually from twenty-five cents to one dollar, on the preacher's desk. Often several dollars are contributed in this way. 168 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY Outside of the organizations connected with the de nominations, benevolent societies are assisting financially and encouraging the work in various ways. The Wom an's Mission Society of the First Church at Lexington, has given $50 to support a missionary in Clay Coimty. The Woman's Missionary Society of Clay City gave $75 toward the support of a minister in Russell and Cumberland counties. These are only illustrations to show the interest manifested by the various forces. The Gospel is being heralded, and soon it will be spread to the remotest comer. The fact that missionary associations give a generous support, the people on the field willingly contribute, die missionaries give dieir time and energy for lower wages than diey are offered for other work, the minds of the audience are open to conviction, and souls ready to respond, all are evidences tiiat a great spiritual force is now working in the mountains. The churches of one denomination are not jealous of the increasing strengtii of the others; all work in harmony and in hearty co-opera tion. Ministers of the various denominations often unite their efforts and hold a revival or protracted meeting. The supreme idea is not personal or denominational ag grandizement but the saving of souls and placing the moral standard on a higher plane. RELIGION 169 How do the people regard the work of the mission aries? Rev. D. McDonald, superintendent of the thir teen Presbyterian institutions and numerous churches, speaks : "There is not on this continent a people more ac cessible or more responsive to the. Gospel, more apprecia tive of Christian education, or more capable of intellectual development." Rev. H. M. Elliott, who has been Secretary and State Evangelist for the Kentucky Christian Missionary Asso ciation for fifteen years, and who has, perhaps, organized more churches and Sunday schools in the mountains than any otiier man, says: "As great and insistent as are the present demands for help, the future indicates that these will be greatly multiplied. The growth of villages into towns, and the growth of towns into cities, and the development of the resources of Eastern Kentucky will make larger demands upon us. If we expect to be worthy of the great plea for which we stand, and of our fatiiers who laid the foundation of this work, we must give up our lives for the greater efforts," When strong forces unite their efforts, good results are obtained. The readiness, of the people to respond and assist in the labors of the outside forces, promises a happy future for the reUgious work. 170 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY THE ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE. The Kentucky Interdenominational Temperance Com mittee was changed November 17, 1904, into the Ken tucky Anti-Saloon League. This was effected in accord ance with the instractions received from the several relig ious bodies working in co-operation with the league. The prospect for a brilliant future for the Anti-Saloon League in our country is most hopeful. Some of the most prominent issues of the last Con gress, 1905, were instituted and passed through the in fluences of the Anti-Saloon League. The League helped the Statehood Bill through the Senate by a vote of 55 to 20, requiring prohibition in the new state of Oklahoma for 21 years, or until chatiged by the people. The recent Remonstrance Law in Indiana closed one hundred saloons in a few days. The liquor men have been given die hardest fight of their lives, and their terrified counte nances look into the future fraught with no hope for them. In our own state the League has made gratifying progress. While the mountain districts do not have as many temperance lecturers and temperance workers as the other parts of the state, yet the temperance spirit is there. Experience has taught the fathers and mothers that diey cannot afford to tolerate die traffic of whiskey. RELIGION 171 and rear their children in a poisoned atmosphere for the sake of a few dollars which might come from whiskey taxation. The temperance spirit is there and growing rapidly. The Christian school teachers and young men who are educated for other professions in Christian schools are or ganizing "Temperance Clubs." The children are anx ious to join the club and read the literature. A few good, strong leaders to advocate the temperance cause in East em Kentucky could soon make this section solid for the Kentucky temperance cause. The people have very lit- tie literature, and the youth hear few lectures; yet ex perience from whiskey's effects, and native instinct are hunting out the moonshine still and placing illegal whis key sellers behind the prison bars. Out of the elections in nine counties on the temperance question in 1904, all were carried for prohibition by good majorities. More than ninety-two per cent of the mountain counties of Kentucky are under strict prohibition laws. Under the "County Unit Bill," the people of the entire county may decide whether saloons shall be kept in any part of the county. With this law, the destraction of the saloons is certain. It very frequentiy happens that a coun ty votes whiskey out and some town or towns in that county vote it in. The argument for the sale of whiskey is 178 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY made only by those who wish to prosper financially by the sale of it, and they have labored so diligently to foster their cause that in the past they have had a number of supporters; but now, so far as the Mountain People have influence, their doom is certain, their cause is lost The records of the proceedings of the Kentucky Leg islature show how the Mountain People stand on the whis key question. The mountain members stand firm for the County Unit Law, and for every law aimed at the re duction of the whiskey traffic. They not only speak, ad vocate, and vote their sentiments, but they represent a people who instract them to strike whiskey a blow at every opportunity, or not to ask for office again. The present County Unit Law is a great victory for die cause of temperance. Under this law, the county as a whole is given the power to decide whether or not whis key may be sold within its borders. This law has one defect in diat it exempts first, second, third and fourth class cities. Kentucky is noted for fine horses, pretty women and an abundance of whiskey. Public sentiment is becoming strong against the whiskey and soon this word will be eliminated from die popular phrase. The mass of common people, the body of voters who hold die keys which unlock die doors of die offices, have tumed against die infernal demon — ^whiskey, and no of- RELIGION 178 ficer can advocate the sale of it, or legislator vote against a bill condemning it, without trembling when he thinks of re-election. The Mountain People consider it not only unpopular, but a crime to support a measure fostering the sale and use of intoxicating liquors; consequently, money and energy which would have formerly been used for the promotion of this cause, are now used to establish and maintain schools and churches, that the young men of our country may be brought up under their influence instead of the influence of "blind tigers" and saloons. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL The visitor to the mountain Sunday school observes here, the greatest lack of leadership. A number of men, women, and children are gathered at the church house, or if there is no church house, at the schoolhouse. As at the church service, die appearance of the leader or superin tendent is the signal for all to enter the house and join in the singing. The superintendent is usually an aged gentleman, who perhaps has never seen a well organized Sunday school; and he has had to devise and rely upon his own mediods. The teachers are not well drilled, and the organization is very poor. In many cases they have no Sunday school books, cards, or other literature, and failing to interest die children in die difficult lessons from 174 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY the Bible, the children fall away and the adult class con stitutes the Sunday school. Thus the training of the children which should be the supreme object of the Sun day school is necessarily neglected. It used to be a very common, and in some parts the idea is still maintained that it is a sin to use any literature in the Sunday school except the Bible. The objection to die use of the Sunday school book is, that it contains some man's ideas and not the word of God. They are sincere and strictly adhere to the message directly from the word of God. The introduction of Missionary schools, the training of the youth under their supervision, the wojrk gf the Christian teachers and missionaries are rapidly changing the old idea; yet they are not introducing a new religion for there is no traer reUgion than the simple and strict adherence to the words of our Savior as our fathers read them from the Bible. One of the important agencies in the establishment of Sunday schools in the mountains is the American Sunday School Union. This is a national society, organized in 1824 with cherished hopes that a Bible might be placed in every home and a Sunday school within the reach of all. The hopes have not yet been realized, but the Union has grown until it has a larger number of Sunday school RELIGION 176 workers than any other Sunday school society in the world. It began work in the Kentucky Mountains in 1905 and every year sends out a number of workers to organize Sunday schools.^ These have met with good success and the outlook for the work of the Union is very promising. Boys and giris in mountain communities often ask for a Sunday school when competent leaders cannot be found who are willing to organize and superintend it; but it is gratifying to know that so many forces are now at work, and it is hoped that in a few years every com munity will have a flourishing Sunday school. THE Y. M. C. A. Five years ago the organization for which the initial letters Y. M. C. A. so proudly stands, was almost en tirely unknown to the mountain youth except those who had been "away to school". But now the Young Men's Christian Association is introduced and ever}rwhere re ceives a hearty welcome. The organizations thus far are 'During the summer of 190s, the Union sent out eight students of Berea College in this work. The following is a brief summary of their work: They labored 600 days, traveled 6,367 miles, walking nearly all the distance; made 1,827 visits to the homes, reading the word, praying with tbe people, telling the. old, old story; gave 373 addresses. As a partial result of their labors they opened 86 Sunday schools, with 273 teachers and 4,229 scholars; aided 41 schools, with 132 teachers and 1,979 Mholars; were able to induce 69 young people to leave their homes and go away to school. These results were so encouraging that in the summer of 1900 sixteen student* were sent out in this work. ire THB MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY small and are limited mostly to the county seats, towns, and to the academies and missionary schools; but the work in its infancy, is meeting a general approval. It is as easy to organize a Christian society in the mountains as it is a society for sport. The young minds crave Sunday schools, and societies of Christian En deavor, but there is a lack of leadership. The standing Y. M. C. A.'s are the ones where the organizers and leaders have remained. One good, strong Christian work er can organize, maintain, and increase the interest in a Y. M. C. A. as long as he gives it personal attention; but his resignation often means the abandonment of the work. The temporary organizations of these societies is a good thing, but what the mountains need are permanent or ganizations for the training of young men who will become leaders. Good results have been attained from the Young Men's Christian Association in towns, cities, and colleges; but the great problem has been to extend the work into raral communities. THE COUNTY ORGANIZATION. Various plans have from time to time been instituted in other states and failed; but die association leaders in Kentucky, realizing the great need of such an organiza- REUGION 177 tion in our own state, did not become discouraged. After many conferences and much deliberation a possible solu-^ tion was offered — the county organization with a de partmental secretary as general supervisor. This was begun in 1899, and Kentucky became the pioneer state in a great movement. This course has been followed by a number of states, and has proved to be an important factor in the advance ment of the cause of Christ in raral districts. A number of counties have erected buildings usually at the county seats, and strong associations are organized at these points. This means a series of smaller asso ciations in the outlying districts around each central or ganization. This practically new organization promises unbouhd- ed success. It is hoped that in the not far distant future each county will be a part of this great movement. This is a grand opportunity to reach the young men of the mountains, and it is gratifying to know that some of the mountam counties are considering the plan. Only a little effort to raise a few hundred dollars for the erection of a building, and co-operation witii the sec retary of the association, is necessary to begin the work in die county. It binds together the religious interests of 178 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY the county and provides an active agent to sustain and advance the religious interests of the young men. Those who have straggled hard with the problem of how to reach and save the boys of the raral communities are gratified to see the county organization successfully ac complishing this work. CHAPTER X. OUTLOOK. From a study of the history, conditions, and present tendencies of a people, their future may well be predicted. The early history of the Mountain People was gloomy, not because they did not possess the spirit of progress, but because of physical conditions discussed in Chapter II. Previous to the Revolution, some sturdy pioneers had crossed the Appalachian barrier and established for themselves homes in the westem wilderness. During this gigantic struggle, this little band of pioneers was too far from the seat of conflict to receive much attention; yet they were loyal and trae. In their glorious victory at King's Mountain, which has been sung by recent writers, they drove the British from the Carolinas and hastened the treaty of peace. The long march, the sturdy fig^t, and triumphant victory, builded for the Mouhtain People a monument which will survive the ages. The successful expedition of George Rogers Clark who led the pioneers in inclement weather through almost (17B) 180 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY I impassable swamps, wading streams waist-deep for miles, swimming the swollen streams, campmg on an island with out food or shelter, finally reaching and capturing the forts of Cahokia, Kaskaskia and Vincennes, wresting the Illinois country from British domain and establishing a republican govemment, will never be forgotten. This brilliant, daring, and successful expedition has been re counted until it is familiar to every school boy. Un consciously the pen of the historian writes it down, and future historians will honor their pages by telling the story of Clark and his followers. At that time there were only a few Kentuckians, but they loyally followed the flag. But no sooner had the shackles of British despotism been shaken from the limbs of Americans than many faces were tumed toward the newly opened west. The victorious sons who survived the straggle, hearing flattering stories of the westem coun try, hoped here to retrieve their fortunes which had been sacrificed in the desperate straggle. Tlie tide of immi gration was high and steady. Consequendy, a flood tide of progress began to spread over the land. Its effects were manifested in schools, colleges, and churches. Social and religious life, mental energy, and the refinement of homes were procured by the wakeful progrecsiveness of this movement. Then followed aii an outcome of this awak' OUTLOOK. 181 ening, rapid strides of skill in field and factory, and in great municipal achievement. People of the same type as those on whom fortune so suddenly smiled, settled in the Mountains of Kentucky. Here in the background of the great Appalachian region, for years they watched industrial progress sweep past their doors. The people here were unknown; the entire section seemed to form no part of our great and growing country. The occupants of a frontier cabin could hear the whistle of steamboats and locomotives and watch the constraction of th^ net work of wires in the beautiful val ley country, yet for a long time they could not hope for these modem conveniences in their own civilization. But as the forests were cleared away and the country developed, the conveniences and demands of those Uving in the foothills were supplied by the telegraph and tele phone which after awhile began to thread their way into this region. The long distances between the post offices and the long Interval between the arrivals of the post boy would no longer satisfy the people, and applications for post offices and daily mails have been constantly made to the government, and have been abundantly granted un til now there is a very good system over the mountain counties. There is hardly a county now which does not have its own paper, and some counties have two or more. 188 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY These steps toward civiUzation have been taken be cause the spirit of progress in the people demands, them; for until the beginning of the preceding decade, there was no other incentive. The people have begun to discover the wealth which lies in their natural resources. Here lies the hope for Eastem Kentucky. No people can pros per without money. Without this they cannot have nice homes, good schools, nor able leaders. These are the things in which the Mountain People have been deficient, and now for all these they have high hopes which are to be realized by the wise me of the wealth locked up in their natural resources. There are still fine forests of oak, walnut, pine, poplar, and a variety of other trees, worth large sums of money; and since markets are coming near er, the people have leamed the value of their timber. But the coal and die oil fields offer the brightest out look. For more than a century, the Mountain People walked over immense beds of coal, locked up in mother eardi, widiout realizing that they were treading upon hid den treasures, sufficient, if properly used, to make die country very prosperous indeed. Here in great quanti ties is found the best coal in the world. Experts have pronounced it so; but a more direct proof of its value is, that the Cannel City coal, Morgan County, took the premium at the St. Louis Worid's Fair. OUTLOOK. 188 Vast oil fields have been developed in recent years. Few counties remain untouched, and indications are in deed flattering. These fields of wealth are producing a vast influence on transportation. The hills are no longer in the way of the iron horse for he is rapidly finding his way to the fields of coal and timber. The telegraph now reaches every business town, the telephone every vil lage, almost every country store, and many private houses. The printing press heralds the news from almost every county seat, and the people are kept informed on the ques tions of public interest. The outlook for education, religion, and politics is en couraging. The social conditions are improving rapidly. These steady advances are due, not only to the advan tages which present themselves, but also to disappearance of many of the impediments. One great hindrance to the development of this region has been the emigration of capital. In former years the men who have accumulated money have emigrated to other parts of the country, where business is more flourishing, but industrial develop ment is now an inducement for them to remain at home. The greatest hindrances to education has been the loss of the educated young men. The country has never been wealthy enough to retain these precious treasures — the educated young men. In order to get an education. iHi THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY sons who are proud diat labor's lips have kissed dieir hands, have been obliged to leave the mountains. When educated, they could not see sufficient inducement to cause them to retum. Where now are the statesman these rag ged hills have sent forth? One extreme mountain county has fumished two chief executives to the state of Missouri, and there is scarcely a county which is not represented in the legislative or con gressional halls of other states. Where are her promising young lawyers? They have tumed their course toward the growing west, to seek larger opportunities. Where are the teachers and ministers? They, too, have gone to instract the youth of other climes. Where is the winner of the scholarship medal of the Louisville medical school? Where is the student orator who reaped the honor at the Chicago World's Fair? Other states now have their services, but Eastem Kentucky claims their renown. According to Prof. N. S. Shaler and other authori ties on the subject, a man of average abiUty is worth three thousand dollars to his state. At such figures, who can estimate the loss to a region which has been constantly drained for years of her best men? Such has been the loss to the highlands of Kentucky. This los^ we cannot hope to retrieve; but indications are good that a large per cent, of the loyal, patriotic and promising sons of toil who 'iyy.: ,,^- '^ ~>-^ ^Of. . Mountain Boys and Girls. OUTLOOK. 185 are now under the instraction of college professors, will give their home people tiie advantage of their training. The normal, academic and collegiate institutions are sending fortii sons and daughters with an ambition to raise die standard of their own communities. Industrial de velopment insures more positions, but the love for home and country is the strongest incentive for young men to prepare for service in the mountains. A large majority of the Mountain People have always had to rely upon the soil for sustenance, working on their own farms, using their children constantly. Consequent ly, they have neglected to educate their children and have not had time to read and study conditions sufficiently to find out their own needs or aid much in the progressive movements of the state. But improvement in financial conditions together with educational and reUgious im provements, is producing a class who have time, or at least are taking time, to study, and if possible, solve the diffi cult problems which they have to confront. Unskilled and untrained farmers have wasted much soil, but the present day farmers are realizing that to continue to work the hill land to death as their predecessors have done, will in the future rain mountain farming, and they have begun to bring to life die neglected fields. The re moval of the causes which have retarded development 188 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY is almost as encouraging as the development from other sources. The network of wires stretching across the country gives a new impulse to business. Tlie whistle of the wel come freight produces a smile, for the mountainman knows that he is soon to exchange his coal and timber for Uncle Sam's gold and greenbacks. Men who are studying the conditions in our state, predict that in the future, the East em part will contain the large cities. Then instead of the clink of the blacksmith's hammer, one may hear the din of the factory. But with all the advantages of industrial, educational and religious institutions, we cannot hope for steady and rapid progress unless the people have in them the spirit of progress. Have the Mountain People this spirit? It is an historical fact that countries rise and fall. When a new country begins to develop, high sprited people are the first on the field. The men always greatly outnumber the women, consequently the women choose the best men for their husbands. As a result the offspring is of the best stock. Each generation becomes more ambitious for progress, until a climax is reached in a class of high so ciety. This class delays marriage and diminishes the off spring and thereby the class becomes smaller and smaller, while there is a steady increase among the lower class of people. OUTLOOK. 187 The people of Eastem Kentucky have certainly in herited the spirit of progress. They spring from men who had hearts of oak and hands of iron. Their progress has always been steady, and at present it is greater than ever. They have not and will not for several genera tions, reach the point of retrogression. The spirit of prog ress is bom in their veins. They are of the material not only to take advantage of opportunities which are pre sented, but to seek for more opportunities. Just as a race set free from shackles of bondage. rises by leaps and bounds and shows powers which have long been dormant, die people of Eastern Kentucky, who are throwing off the tyranny of physical conditions, will in the coming generation, astonish those who have looked upon them as an inferior class of people. The mountain youth are beginning to see through the veil which has darkened the past and they behold In the future a new country. This country, with better homes, schools and churches is their promised land. The edu cated leaders will organize the forces in their respective counties and there will be none idle. All will strive to reach the cherished ambition, and Eastem Kentucky will in the future be an illuminating spot on the map of the United States. APPENDIX. PARTIAL LIST OF REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY IN 1840. ADAIR COUNTY. Henry Armstrong, Elisha Bailey, Thomas Q>chran, Alex ander Elliot, Samuel Ellis, John Hamilton. Zach. Holliday, William Hurtt, James Irvme, William James, John Montgomery, William Mosby, Solomon Royce. William Womack, Thomas White. Philip Winfrey. BATH COUNTY. Moses Botts, William Boyd. Josiah Collins, Gordon Griffin, William Kerns. Andrew Linam, James McElhany. Michael Moores, Holman Rice. John Sims, Richard Thomas, BREATHITT COUNTY, Jesse Bowrling, Drury Bush, Rogers Turner. CARTER COUNTY, William Bates, CLAY COUNTY. David Surge, Sr„ William Bums, John Chandler, John Gar* land. (ISO) 180 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY CLINTON COUNTY, Nicodemus Bams, John Davis, John Miller, Richard Wade, James Woody, Charles Worsham, Francis Pierce. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Elijah Bledsoe, Thomas Brothers, Thomas Kash, Sr., Abram Esters, John Gibson, Martin Grider, John Hurtt, JoMph Jewell, George King, Solomon Prewet, Sr., John Self, James SewsU, Samuel Smith. ESTILL COUNTY. William Harris, William Johnion, Sr., Andrew Liekey, Am brose Powell, Joseph Proctor, John Stufflebean, Mary Eaitei, Martha Elkini, Suian Horn, Barbara Meadowes, Barbara No- land, Elizabeth Ward, Suian Winkler, Phebe Witt. FLOYD COUNTY. Thomas C, Brown, Anthony HaU, Mexico Pitts, John Por ter, Sr., Reuben Thacker, Benedict Watkins, Philip Williams, Patsey Harris, Rebecca Hennel. Amy Justice. Sally More. Eliza-' beth Preston. HARLAN COUNTY. Benjamin Cozard. James Jackson. Sr.. Stephen L. Jones. KNOX COUNTY. Richard Ballew. Edward Browning, Jacob Cooper, Peter Hammonds, John B^ Horton, James Miller, Joshua Mullens. LAUREL COUNTY. John Faubush, Titus Hersham, John Nicks, Ambrose Pitman, John Simpson, Solomon Stransberry. APPENDIX 1»1 LAWRENCE COUNTY. Gilbert Bloomer. George Hardwick, Moses Henny, William Lyons, Josiah Marcum. James Ward. Silas Worton, MORGAN COUNTY. David Ellington, B, Hamilton. John Kulby, Isaac Kuton, Thomas Lewis, John Prewitt, Levi Stephenion, John Smothers, Gilbert Stephenion, Benjamin Wagei, Rebecca Day, Mary Hopkins, Martha Jones. PERRY COUNTY. Jamei Candill, Archeloi Croft, Simon Juitice, Edmund Polly. PIKE COUNTY. Joseph Ford, Moiei Stei^, Christian Traut, PULASKI COUNTY. Robert Anderson, George Dickers. Barustus Murray. Robert Sayers. John Wilson. ROCKCASTLE COUNTY. William Abney. Humphrey Bates. Elijah Denny. Moses Farris. George Harlowe. Nicholas Howke, William Lawrence, Reuben C. Pew, E. Ramsey Sr., George Sigmon, Jacob Steph ens, William Sweeny. RUSSELL COUNTY. Jordan George, Thomas Graves, Henry Law, William Penry- man, John Polly. IM THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY WAYNE COUNTY. John Adair, Peter Catron, Reuben Coffee, Caleb Cooper, Frederick Cooper, Patrick Coyle, Isaac Crabtree, WiUiam Doss, Mastin Durham, Bartholmew Haden, Abram Hurt, James Jones, Sr., John Parmley, James Piercy, Stephen Pratt, George Rogers, 2!echariah Sanders, James Turner, Sr., Qiarles Washeun. WHITLEY COUNTY. Thomas Adkms. John Hood. Thomas Laughlin. Henry Porch. James Rogers. Darley Smithhearts. Daniel Trigg, Ames Witt. INDEX. PACE Academies 1 64 Academies, m feud districts 31 Ancestry, English 1 8-36 Scotch-Irish 25-29 Huguenot, German, Swiss 31 Revolutionary ' 31-36 Anti-Saloon League I 70 Appalachian America, size of, location 15 Appendix, names of Revolutionary soliders 189-192 Author, aim of 17 Berea College 1 28-1 33 Blue Ridge, settlers crossed the 18 Boone, Daniel 19 Burning Springs School 117 Campbell, Col. Arthur 22-24 Campton 92 Characteristics, mountain 38 Church, not a social affair. , 56-57 Clark, Geo. Rogers 1 79 Coal 93 Contents 7-13 Counties, appendix 36 County Organization > 1 76 County Unit Bill 1 71 -1 72 (lot) 194 THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY PAGE Dance, the 52 Denominations. Christian 1 64 Descent. English 1 8-25 Huguenot. German. Swiss 31 Revolutionary 31-36 Scotch-Irish 25-29 Development, natural resources 91 Eastem Kentucky, area of. population 16 Education. Public School 1 03 Compulsory 125 Public sentiment 131 Secondary education ..,....,.. 115 Election. 1905 140 Elliott. Rev. H. W.. quoted 169 English ; 16-25 Farming 65 ' Feudi, cauie, namei, public sentiment 71-63 Fiike, quoted 26-29 Froit. Prei., quoted 129-130 Gambling 67 Graded School 115 Hazel Green Academy 1 33 Holliday. M. H.. Deputy Collector 63 Immigrants, perils of 20 Why they came 29 Industrial schools 1 00 Industries 85, 1 85 Institutions, higher 119. 123. 124. 134. 185 INDEX 195 PAGE Introduction 15 King's Mountain, battle of 33, 34, 1 79 Location, effect on the people 38, 40 Log school-house 1 03 MacVeagh, Wayne, quoted 153 Marriage customs 54 McDonald, Rev., quoted 1 69 Meeting, the 1 58-1 63 Minister, the 158 Missionary schools 1 63-t 65 Moonshine • . 56-67 Mountains, Cumberland .,.•.,. 16, 19 Pine 16 Natural resources, oil. coal, timber 91-95 Officers, repreientativei elected , , 146 Oil 91-92 Outlook 179 Parties, political 141-143 Party, the 53 Party principles, ,..,.... 143 Political purity 1 49-1 5 1 Politics 137 Population 16 Preface 3, 4 Prohibition, sentiment 171 Railroads 94-101 Representatives, election of 1 46 Religion 157 l«« . THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OP KENTUCKY PACE Revolutionary ancestry. 31-36 Rivers 90 Roads, mountain 40 Roosevelt, quoted 26-30 Routes to Kentucky, Ohio River. 30 Cumberland Gap 19 Schools, higher 1 65 Scotch-Irish, sketch of 25-29 Settlers, first 19-24 Shaler. quoted 30-73 Shiveree 55 Social, the 54 Social conditions 49 Sturdy stock 47 Sunday-school 1 73 Sunday-school Union. The American 1 74 Taft. Secretary, quoted 154 Telegraph, telephone ; . . . . 181-163 Transportation 90 Value of good roads. 41-44 Virginia, first settlers of 18 Walker. Dr, Thomas 19 Writers, standpoint of previous 16 Y. M. C. A 175 YALE UNIVERSITY 102885888b YALE Jlllilpij l',l f.;v:.;M.i'j:-'i!ii[ ¦¦tii';'i:i:-':=^;.?i{i '!!!-¦! ¦.('''¦¦•'ii ii! .- ¦ ;: ' :¦ T ;i III iiililiiilite I '» 11 1! iii> li I K*{:j!p;;i; ¦>;' -'^>'i ;¦; |.\» --^li I '.•¦'••;!) '''ps>;!i till ?»5n}iM5!rMiif '.''(•: '."lit' MtiiilJi '!' , ...... , 1 '-^ ' })S* i-J I, i< {i , 1' .''f f'i'i';!"! ¦: -i:: iiililJiJnjNilh .¦.¦¦•¦. J W!:! Mitl- .".'Kt'iiitrilifiuf •,¦; 'ti .i! i>H'." I ' ' ' ,* Hi' (h ,*i!I't>|t'li|ti