During the settlement of the Great Valley, social activities were usually work-related, due to the fact that there was so much to be done. Whole families and their many neighbors involved themselves in log rollings, home and barn raisings, clearing of new-grounds", corn husking, mollasses making, soap manufacturing, spinning, quilting, hog-killing, kraut making, vinegar making, wheat thrashing, canning and drying of foods. So, many were the cooperative labors. As settlements became more firmly established, social gatherings and games became important elements in the community's growth and development.
Religious gatherings comprised whole families and embodied monthly meetings, revival services, "sosation" meetings, and singing schools. Baptisings, communion services, and later Sunday schools, united families and reflected stability and pride.
Games were enjoyed the year around, and such a large variety of games existed that everyone could participate. All games could be divided into the three basic catagories of luck, physical endurance, and skill. Many games called for a combination of all three, and a number of games can be traced back hundreds of years. For example, the game of wmarblesw was played by the Eqyptians and Romans, and it was one of the earliest games played in America. The first marbles manufactured in the United States were made of clay, but were soon replaced by glass. The Germans made marbles called "aggies" from a fine grained variety of quartz and limestone. Marbles made from these substances were rare in this country; but, if possessed by a player, aggies were chosen as the "shooters" in marble games.
Children enjoyed playing marble games and followed strict rules during contests. For example, "histing", the raising of the hand from the ground, was not permitted while "shooting", and "hunching", moving the hand forward while shooting, was considered "fudging" and resulted in the loss of a "tern". However, players were permitted to take "rounders" if a more suitable angle was needed before shooting. Some of the more popular marble games were "keeps", and "rollie-hole".
Games requiring physical endurance included jumping rope, hop-scotch, stink base, drop-the-handkerchief, ring-around-the-roses, hide and seek, crack-the-whip, follow-the-leader, leap-frog, tag, tug-of-war, Anthony over, and the English game called rounders (baseball), Prof. W. H. Thomas referred to the game as "Bull-soup". Basket ball was introduced later as a boys' game in schools. During rainy and cold days, children entertained themselves indoors by engaging in reading, making cut-outs, adding items to scrap-books, and games of "I-spy", jacks, fox and geese, checkers, finger games using a piece of string--Jacob's ladder, crows feet--spinning a button, and a number of card games.
Seasonal activities requiring skill were demonstrated in the making of "flippers", "pop-guns", bows and arrows, wooden whistles, whittled canes and small figurienes, and traps for birds, rabbits, and fish. Male family members enjoyed fishing and the Clinch and Powell rivers contained an abundant variety of fish--bass, pike, sun-fish, redeye, catfish, and others. The sport was accomplished from the river bank or by boat, and often entailed the use of "trot-lines" and traps. Gigging parties went out in the early evenings near rivers, streams, ponds, and swamps to gather frog legs, a delicacy in many early homes.
Entertainment demanding skill, indurance, and luck consisted of hunts for squirrel, wild turkey, quail, grouse, pheasant, deer, rabbit, coon, ground-hog, and opossum. Many households kept dogs trained to flush out coveys of birds and to "tree" coon, opossum, and squirrel. A prize dog among those kept was trained for fox hunting. Unlike the British hunts in daylight on horseback, the East Tennessee hunt consisted of a group, who chose a vantage point to lounge and talk while permitting their dogs to smell out the fox's scent. Hunts began in the early evening and often lasted well into the morning hours. The owner of a dog could determine the position his dog held in the race by his bark.
Everyone loved flowers, and the most humble of homes had vines of yesteria and rambling roses on trellises and fences, arid flower beds near the house displayed a wide variety of perennials. On porches, under trees, or in other shaded areas, one could find potted plants of violets, begonias, ferns, and geraniums, rooted in earthenware or discarded pots, pans, buckets and other containers. Visitors often took "cuttings" to root new plants. WGT NOTE: Butcher's Cemetery, one of the oldest in the county, has the LaBelle Siltame (French rose) single red, and a rambler des pintres (cabbage rose) double orchid. These have survived for generations.
Until prohibition many small stills were established for manufacturing spirited liquors for home consumption. When these became illegial, many disappeared, while others were consealed and continued to operate, often "bootlegging" the product. A variety of wines and "home-brews" was distilled from the abundance of fruit and berries grown on the farm. Neighbors liked to treat company with a drink of moonshine either from their still or sample a purchase from a manufacture. One fellow told of being treated to a dram at his neighbor's springhouse. When asked how he liked it he replied that "it would knock your hat off!" His friend explained that it was "terrible stuff but had to be drunk."
Ladies who were in a "family-way" were honored with showers and gifts and much advice on caring for a baby and raising children. During the early days many old-wives-tales flourished. Many early deliveries were accomplished at home attended by "mid-wives". These dedicated ladies often neglected their own families while attending the bedside of expectant mothers. If a doctor was available and needed following a delivery, he would call to check on the mother and new baby. One could expect neighbors and family to visit during illnesses and injury and "set-up" during the night to care for the patient allowing the household to rest.
Deaths as well and births brought family and friends together to wash and dress the deceased, make arrangements for the funeral, and burial service. The custom of wakes probably began with persons believing evil spirits might possess an unburied corpse if left alone. Perhaps a better explanation of the tradition would be that families experienced difficulty in retiring and leaving the body unattended through the night. During the wake, family and friends gathered at the deceased's home and sat up with the body all night. Food for the family of the deceased and those attending the wake was provided by neighborhood families.
When deaths occurred during the winter months, flowers were not available for funerals or grave decorations. Therefore, this compiler believes that green carpets of myrtle (periwnkle) which are found in most early cemeteries in East Tennessee were placed on graves as a substitute for flowers, a symbol of love. The tradition may have originated in areas of the Mediterranean where the Greeks used myrtle in festivals and considered it sacred to the goddess of love, Aphrodite. The waxy leaves of myrtle are orenamental. This plant produces beautiful spring flowers, and is adapted to poor soil, but it grows well in either shade or full sun.
Reading aloud from books, newspapers, and magazines was a form of home entertainment that was enjoyed in the evening when chores were finished. Turning the pages of a mail-order catalogue displaying hundreds of personal items, home furnishings, and farm implements, was entertaining, informative, and educational. Catalogues from distributors in Atlanta and Chicago made available hundreds of items for sale through these publications.
Telling ghost stories at bedtime could send youngsters deep into the bed covers with their eyes tightly closed. Perhaps a favorite story was the one that originated with Isaac "Red Ike" Miller of Powell Valley. Ike may have been psychic and saw things other could not see. Around the bluff between his mill and Slant Misery, a section of the Powell River that contained swift rapids, a road had been cut leaving a rock cliff and dirt fill below that extended to the river. On several occasions Ike saw, or thought he saw, around sunset, a man or apparition suddenly materialize at the brink of the road, cross the cliff, and disappear. It was told that Reuben Craig, who was considered a wealthy miser, lived near this spot. Two men came to his home late one afternoon and abused Craig in an effort to make him reveal where his gold was hidden. While the abuse was in process, his daughter, Summers, seized a butcher knife and stabbed one of the robbers in the back. Taken by surprise, both men jumped from the high porch and into the swift waters of the river, the great knife still in a robber's back. According to legend, both men drowned. Ike Miller firmly believed he often saw the ghost of those robbers.
Weddings, fund raising events such as pie suppers, box suppers, raffles, and family homecomings, birthdays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and Easter Day were times for great joy and celebrations in homes, schools, and churches.
Special home parties for teenagers included stringing pop-corn, pulling "'lassy" taffy, dancing, and games of spin-the bottle, postoffice, jump-the-broom, hoe-downs, and story telling. Parties lasted for hours during which many good humored jokes were often played on attending members.
Political rallies and debates became part of the American way and commanded large crowds of voters. In 1884, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization consisting of ex-Union soldiers, was organized and became an important political force in campaigns. During political meetings candidates courted the CAR and often stretched the truth in speeches regarding their activities during the Civil War. Prof. Thomas records some interesting events occuring in Union County in the 1880's.
"Henry Rice Snodderly was a man of outstanding ability and character," Thomas wrote, "and at one time was a member of the General Assembly of Tennessee and an intimate friend of Emerson Etheridge and wanted his grandsons named in honor of the statesman. He was also a close friend and supporter of Henry R. Gibson, and his home was a stopping place for that Congressman. It was from Snodderly's porch that campaign speeches were made when Gibson ran against Nathaniel Brashears, Kige Nash, and Green Palmer for the state senate. Gibson in his speech said, 'Behold my adversaries,' and motioned to Snodderly's porch where his opponents sat on a long bench, Nash, (a rolly-polly fat man, Palmer a neatly dressed, elegant gentleman of many professions--farmer, preacher, lawyer, and politician, and Brashears a gaunt, shabby man who could cuss a blue streak. Gibson cried, 'Behold my adversaries, the world (Palmer), the flesh (Nash), and the devil (Brashears).'"
When Gibson ran against young John Houk for a seat in Congress, a bitter campaign resulted. It was said that Gibson had once claimed to have served as Chief of Gen. Hooker's staff. His opponents claimed that his part in the War was a clerk in the army commissary and that he was not a soldier and, therefore had no honorable discharge. In order to impress the GAR, Gibson boasted of his frendship toward Union veterans. At a political rally held at Witt's school, Gibson was loudly vocalizing about his devotion to Union veterans in a stenorian delivery that his opponents claimed his middle initial "R" stood for Henry "Roaring" Gibson. During the speech at Witt's a heckler called out, "Where is your discharge?" Gibson fixed a wicked gaze upon his tormentor and yelled, "Look in the seat of your pants and you will find your discharge!"
"Shan" Greer was Gibson's campaign manager and was presiding at a Republican nomination convention held in Maynardville. Alfred A. "Big Alf" Snodderly, a lawyer and veteran of the Union Army, was in attendance. Although too drunk to be a good orator, he was floundering in his cups when a voice yelled, "Put him down!" The old veteran regained his oratorical ability to reply calmly, "Put him down! That's what the Rebel bullets said at Resaca, [GA] but they didn't put him down". Greer came to Snodderly's rescue and advised the crowd to let him speak because he had served as a brave officer during the war and saw action in Sherman's campaign from Chickamauga to Atlanta.
Election day brought many out to spend the day at the polls while others came, voted, and hurried home to tend to farm chores. When the polls closed, celebrations of elected officials included firing weapons, and an all-time favorite noisemaker was the exploding of dynamite between two anvils, which were often hauled to the tops of ridges.
Memorial Day (Decoration Day) observances originated during the Civil War when some Southern women chose May 30 to decorate the graves of soldiers of the Union and Confederate Armies. These observances became annual events and spread across the country to include honoring the dead of all wars. With the tradition, a custom developed honoring all deceased family members by decorating their graves. A few days before Memorial Day gatherings, men and boys from the community formed work teams and cleaned the cemetery of brush, vines, and wild grasses. Memorial Day services lasted for hours with speeches, preaching, singing, and prayers.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, fraternal organizations became popular in the country. Although there was a number of these, the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Woodsmen of the World were perhaps the most popular in East Tennessee Lodges were established to aid members who became ill, injured, or disabled as well as to compensate families at the death of a member.
The first Masonic Lodge in Union County was organized at Liberty meeting house in Maynardville in February of 1859 when William M. Cocke, a lawyer from Rutledge, Walter R. Evans, a surveyor from Tazewell, and James D. Thomas, Trustee of Campbell County, came to the log chapel and organized Turly Lodge No. 276. Charter members of Turley Lodge were: J. M. Harbison, Capt. John (Red John) Sharp, A. J. (Jakie) Brock, early sheriff of Union County and veteran of the Mexican War, L. M. Ellis, John W. Thornburqh, Oliver W. Huddleston, Daniel Haynes, William Presley Buckner, William P. Owens, Ben W. Reeder, Jesse Green Palmer, George W. Harbison, LaFollete Huddleston, Rufus B. Gibbs, and William Needham
Shortly after the turn of the century, Turly Lodge lost its charter in a dispute regarding the behavior of a member, and many years would follow before another lodge was organized. In the spring of 1922, a petition bearing signatures of fifteen men, was presented to the Grand Master in an effort to obtain a new charter. The petition was honored, and A. F. (Foss) Baker desired that the fraternity be named after his father, John C. Baker, an prominent man and Mason in the community. The membership acknowledged his request, and the lodge was chartered under the name J. C. Baker Lodge No. 720.
In addition to the J. C. Baker Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 312, was established in 1906, and Junior Order of Mechanics was organized in many communities. The Odd Fellows in the Loyston community held their meetings upstairs over Loyston school. Although lodges for ladies were established in some sections of the county, none were organized in Loyston.
After the invention and manufacture of radio, that was the most dynamic form of home entertainment that swept the country in the 1920's. The first public broadcast began in the United States over station KDKA from Pittsbourg, Pennsylvania. This broadcast marked the beginning of radio broadcasting using receiver sets.
Broadcast stations spread across the country at a rapid pace, and Tennessee established WOAN in Lawrenceburg, WSM in Nashville, and WNAN in Knoxville by 1937. Receiver sets became so popular that even during the Depression the number of sets in homes increased tremendously.
Although the first sets had earphones that had to be passed from listener to listener, a short time later, loud speakers were added that provided sound for everyone. Those families who did not own sets congregated at a neighboring home to listen to programs transmitted by radio. On Saturday nights, sets were tuned to WSM in Nashville to hear the Solemn Old Judge, W. B. Hays, introduce performers from the stage of the Grand Old Opera that became a favorite program. Union County's own, Roy Acuff, was very popular during this period.
For more information on this article or any article or publication of the Union County Historical Society please write them at:
Union County Historical Society
P.O. Box 95
Maynardville, TN 37807
Or
E-mail the Union County Historical
Society.
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