I was born and reared in Southern Appalachia. Specifically in Rabun County, Georgia. My Daddy’s side of the family has been in Rabun County since at least 1830, and one branch of Mama’s family has been in the area prior to the formation of the county.
I grew up during the 1970s and ‘80s, a period when many of the “old timers” were still around and remembered their childhoods. I have an interview with Paw Paw (Daddy’s father), in which he reminisced about seeing the first automobile to ever come through Tiger, Georgia.
I’ve always had a love of reading, learning, and history. I suppose I officially became a historian (Yes, “a” historian. I’m neither British, nor a self-important elitist.) in second grade. The Foxfire program was at its peak during that time. Students from the program came to our class, put on a presentation regarding the importance of preserving our oral history, and sent us home to record an interview. I interviewed Paw Paw in Spring 1980. I’ve never stopped. Since then I’ve interviewed every old-timer I could find in the area. Most of them were never interviewed by the Foxfire students. Most of them are gone now, and many of their stories are gone with them.
I am a lifelong writer. While reading Revenuers and Moonshiners by Wilbur Miller during my graduate school years I stumbled on secondary source references to letters compiled by the Internal Revenue Commissioner from the late 1870s and early 1880s. Since I wanted to use information from these in my Master’s thesis, I tracked down copies of the original letters. What a treasure trove of information! A full blown war against the moonshiners was waged in North Georgia and the Carolinas by the federal government. Some of the accounts by the deputy collectors in the field are amazing. I’ve decided to write a trilogy of action/historical novels about the fight. —– I plan to release chapters from the first book here, as well as recount anecdotes from the historical letters.
Daddy is also still with us. At 75 years old, he is now the old timer of moonshining lore, sad as it is to think about his mortality. While he has lived a mostly respectable life, he was an infamous moonshiner back in the day. Most of his family is another story. To call them rogues and criminals would be an understatement. I’ve recorded close to a dozen interviews with him through the decades. That said, every week he tells me a new story that I’ve never heard before. Thanks to modern technology, I’m going to start video recording new interviews with him, especially trying to get new stories unrecorded elsewhere. The videos will be posted on my YouTube channel, with links to them on this blog. Daddy is pretty weak, so each installment will be fairly short.
This blog isn’t going to be simply a collection of oral histories, but will chronicle modern Appalchian life. There will be essays regarding growing up in the area, stories and recollections of the older generation, as well as some travel writing about the area. You might see articles about mountain biking, trail running, or Jeep explorations in Southern Appalachia. Possibly even farming, gardening, and woodworking stories. Generally whatever strikes my fancy and shares my love of all things from life in Southern Appalachia.
