Stories, quotes and anecdotes from Appalachia. 1880s-1950s era.

Category: Family record keeping

Fonta Flora: Blue Ridge Atlantis

By 1913, word of the impending dam & displacements had spread. With progress encroaching, they uprooted their lives & moved from Fonta Flora.

The family Bible held the narrative of ancestral history prior to retrievable birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates.

An important tradition symbolic of the vital place of family in Appalachian life is Decoration Day, usually held on a Sunday in June.

Memory jugs made from bottles, urns, bowls & other vessels have been found on graves–almost always on African American graves.

Often the sanctuary was unpresentable on meeting days…. Men used to bring their saddles into the church and pile them down in the rear.

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