Appalachian History

…continued On November 11, 1926, young neighbor Manville Perry noticed the living room door of William and Sarah Stout’s farmhouse open, and was shocked by the sight he saw. He ran to a nearby coal mine and called for several miners to accompany him back to the farm. Mrs. Stout’s body lay in front of [...]

The last time she saw William Stout, the man missing, he was mending fences here at his Axtel Ridge place, Inez Palmer told the sheriff. She’d heard her boyfriend’s father had headed out west, and was acting strangely before he left Vinton County. Maude “Sheriff Maude” Collins and her deputy Ray Cox followed the trail [...]

The following article by Adam Booth appears in the fall/winter 2012 issue of ‘think,’ the alumni magazine of Case Western Reserve University. Booth is a multiple award winning West Virginian storyteller, musician and Champion Liar. He travels the country weaving tall tales and spreading this traditional Appalachian art to new audiences. Reprinted with permission.   [...]

It was in the late 1870s that merchants of this section of the state came to know a young Hebrew grocery drummer who traveled the mountains on horseback soliciting orders for the Cone wholesale grocery firm doing business in Jonesboro, TN. He was an attractive and interesting young drummer who had genius as a merchant. [...]

Perhaps you thought the UK Wildcats-UT Vols football rivalry is a recent phenomenon? This photo from the Abe Thompson photograph album, circa 1920-1923, in the University of Kentucky’s archives, suggests otherwise! The handwritten caption below the photo reads “KY vs Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville.” Note the lack of any enclosed stadium; Neyland Stadium, though [...]