This is my dog, Butch. The cat was Boots. The chickens were eventually Sunday dinner; and I got something besides the back when that dratted ‘ole preacher didn’t come for Sunday dinner. I never did like him. This was at Hollis Robertson’s rental house across the creek at the foot…
I had heard from my grandmother Smith that her great-grandfather, Daniel Dwiggins (1779-1856), was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher, so I was especially thrilled to find the following entry in the 1850 Census: “Daniel Dwiggins, 71, clergyman, Meth E.” In the early days, the Methodist Church in our state was the…
The garden was down the hill in front of the house. But for me, at six or so years old, the creek was down the hill in front of the house. To me, that was a whole lot more satisfying than the garden, but I did learn how to plant…
I had heard from my grandmother, Blanche Dwiggins Smith, that her great-great-grandfather, Daniel Dwiggins, was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher in the early to mid-1800s, so you can imagine my excitement when I recently found the following entry in the 1850 census for him: “Daniel Dwiggins, 71, clergyman, Methodist E.” In…
Our forefathers settled this country with an axe and a long rifle. They came from all over the world and all nationalities. They had the dream of a better life, independence, and fierce pride. They would help each other relentlessly. Usually, shelter for the family came first, then they would…
Before the days of large numbers of churches in the Piedmont section of North Carolina, the tradition of camp meetings arose. People actually left their homes, took supplies, and went to religious services where they stayed for several days, usually about a week, and camped. That explains the name “camp…
In this edition of Appalachian Moments we roam the hillsides with a saddle bag preacher! In the aftermath of the Civil War, which had pitted brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor in the South many families moved because of the continued bad blood and post-war poverty in their communities.…
In 1998, after having lived in Garden Valley for a long time and realizing that we wouldn’t always be able to navigate all of those steps, John and I decided to downsize. We built a house on a lot on Church Street that I inherited from my parents. Since that…
I have this canoe. When I was a young man, it was bright red. It was seldom ever taken to the river. Now that I am older, the canoe has faded quite a bit. There is also a couple of leaks that need fixing, but I’m not going to take…
Today on Appalachian Moments we stoke the debate on coal and share stories of growing up in coal country. This podcast is personal. I understand the love/hate relationship with coal. While I have never mined it personally, I grew up in Eastern Kentucky with coal literally surrounding me. My family’s…
