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“Let’s
begin at the Briar Creek Baptist Church in Williamsburg (as of 2007,
this church is located
on
Hwy. 92, approximately 500 feet
east of Interstate 75 Exit 11) and take the railroad tracks to where it
will join the road. (The railroad tracks to Bon Jellico were removed after
the mines shutdown.)
Preacher
Wyatt lived across the road from the church. He had two daughters, Amy
and Jane. Amy married Glenn Creekmore and they had a restaurant in
town. Gus
Fritts’ parents lived further up the tracks. Then there was the County
Home; everyone called it the “Poor House’. (The County home was
located on Hwy. 92 approximately one mile west of Interstate 75 Exit 11.) Ad
White and
his wife Bertha took care of the home and the old and helpless people. Their
children were Elsa, Paul, Mary, Carrie, Howard, and Lawrence. Mary, Carry and
I were good friends and I spent many nights with them. We would go to the Briar
Creek Church, stop by the Wyatt’s, and go with Amy and Jane to hear their
Dad give a great sermon. Mr. and Mrs. White had a trunk in the attic where
they kept the smoking tobacco for the residents. Paul would take the hinges
off the
back of the trunk and get a sack of old North State or Bull Durham tobacco
and papers. We would smoke on the way to school on Monday morning.
Further
up the tracks was Dave Patrick’s. There was a cattle guard on the
tracks by his little house. It wasn’t far to where the road crossed
the tracks. It was closer to walk the tracks to where Byrd Stanaford lived
and he
had a little store. We could go down a small hill, cross his walking bridge
without walking across the trestle, which was so scary. The train didn’t
go to Bon every day but when we walked across the trestle we felt scared
that the train
might come and there was no place to go and it was too high to jump off.
We didn’t
walk the trestle much—usually on a dare. I had a few nightmares about
the trestle; I would be trying to get across because the train was coming
and I couldn’t
move my legs. It was a terrible dream.
Mr.
Stanaford owned a lot of property at the foot of that small mountain.
The school was located up on the hill above his house. If we walked that
way in
the morning and it was early, we would stop to see if Whitney, his daughter,
was
ready to go to school. Whitney was a good friend. Her hair was golden blonde
and very curly. I always envied her hair when her Mother was combing and
brushing it. Her mother’s name was Cassie. I believe that Cassie
and Bessie Martin were sisters. She had three older brothers: Curtis, Otis,
and Francis. Francis
was still at home and attending school when I was. Eventually, he married
Gladys Hinkle. Otis and his wife didn’t live in the area but visited
once in a while. Curtis, his wife Lula Mae and daughters Louise and Bea,
lived around the
foot of the hill from his Dad’s, past M. G. Lovitt’s. I always
thought the Stanaford’s were rich; they had a housekeeper (May West).
They were very nice people and I loved going there.
A
small hollow with several paths coming from Bon led to the schoolhouse.
The
branch of water running out of the mountain was easy to step across
except when we had a lot of rain. Then we had to walk down by the Lovitt’s
where there were boards and rocks to step across. The first path at the
start of the hollow
came from the highest row of houses and greatest distance from the mines.
Jim Johnson lived up there. I only knew his son Richard; we were fighting
buddies.
Most of the people who lived up there moved in and out. I just remember
Bob Jones, who had three lovely daughters. Sarah, the youngest, is the
only name I can remember.
The second path came from the main row of houses there were on the road
coming from behind the commissary. Aline Kirklin lived there with her
mother Mabel and
father Luther.
Now
we will go back to town (downtown Williamsburg), past J. B. Gatliff,
Jr.’s
colonial home, past the college, and many beautiful houses. J. B. Gatliff
Sr.’s
mansion was where Highway 25 (called the Dixie Highway) turned to go
all the way to Florida, if you wanted to. Rocky Hollow Hill (currently
South Tenth Street
in Williamsburg) was just after this turn. It was always fun going
down Rocky Hollow Hill but it was a little spooky too. Then there was
a really sharp curve
before getting to Jones’s house. My brother Red was riding with
someone who had a convertible with some pumpkins for Halloween. They
missed the curve
and the car was turned over. They were not hurt and went to get help.
Lizzy Alsip was walking by and saw the accident. A pumpkin was lying
there and she thought
it was my brother’s head because he had real red hair. She was
hysterical.
The
main road continued straight on towards Bon Jellico.
Dr. and Mrs. Stoncipher
built a new home on the main road just west of Red Bird
Road (the current
North Eleventh Street in Williamsburg) and not far from the Gatliff’s.
About a mile west on the main road (currently Main Street in Williamsburg)
a road turns
off to go to Beck’s Creek. On the left, Aunt Nan Creekmore
lived in a very nice home with her son Bill. When she died, she left
the house to her sister
Emma Lovitt, and she took care of Bill for the rest of his life.
Emma and her husband, Marsh, were wonderful people. They raised a
big lovely family; there
was Melt, Marie, Fred, Reba, Lawrence, Lewis Roy, Edgar, and Fay.
My brother Mart married Reba; so I visited them a lot. Across the
road from Aunt Nan’s,
Martin’s lived up on a bluff. Bessie and her husband, Grant,
had three children: Oscar, Hazel, and Howard. Hazel married Albert
Bunch and they lived
in Bon until it shut down. Up a little road was another big house
higher up. When I was very small, Aunt Mandy Patrick, a sister to
Susan Prewitt, lived there.
Sarah Dean Anderson, her parents, and siblings lived there after
Aunt Mandy died.
Going
up Beck’s Creek, I think Jim Chin lived on the left side of the
road up on the bluff by Martins. I know Herman Click lived there. A road
veered to
the right and Uncle Jay Rose lived up there. A bit further was
another house; I only knew Opal Smith and her brother (Raymond?). I don’t
remember their parents. The kids went to Bon School. Up the road a piece,
the Carns family had
a big farm. Then on to Paul’s on the right and a road to
the left was the Prewitt farm. Jim and Susie Prewitt had a nice
big family; their children were
Charles, Nell, Lawrence, Hobert, Clarence, Etress, Stella, Cylde,
and Elmer. My sister Dessie married Clarence; so I spent some wonderful
times there. They
had a big log house. From there I didn’t know anyone, but
I know when I spent the night and slept with Aunt Susie, I could
hear the trucks shifting gears
to climb the mountain road.
Getting
back to the main road, from Aunt Nan’s and the Martins, there was
a small bridge crossing Briar Creek. A short distance further
in a house just before where Dave Patrick lived, there was a man living
there who had Jake leg
and walked with two canes. The story goes that he got Jake leg
from Mean Jake; I guess that was moonshine. Just before the railroad
and road crossed, is where
the Gus Fritts family built a nice home after the mines shut
down. The road and railroad track ran side by side. From the crossing
the house where Marsh Lovitt
and his family lived could be seen on the left up a steep hill.
(The Marsh Lovitt family later lived in Williamsburg near the college,
just one street over from
Main Street. I remember stopping to visit them going to or from
town. When they lived there, Lawrence, Marsh’s son, was cleaning
his gun and shot his hand off. He could still play basketball with one
arm.)
Just
past the Marsh Lovitt house came the Byrd (Bird?) Stanaford store and
it was just a short distance to the road leading
to the Bon Jellico
camp.
Turning right off the main road and to the immediate right
was the one room schoolhouse
where the early Bon kids started their education. There was
a road from the little
school that went under the trestle to the Melt (M. G.) Lovitts,
the Stanafords and the Big School House that was on the hill.
The road
crossed Briar
Creek again and climbed Apple Tree Hill. Just after crossing
the creek and across
the tracks
was Melt Lovitt’s house. It was down below the hill with
a small branch running through the yard into Briar Creek. We
used to cut through their yard
to go to school and they never yelled at us. Later on in years,
I have wondered if that annoyed them. The road and railroad
were side by side but the railroad
went through a deep cut and the road went up Apple Tree Hill.
At the top of the hill was a large gate that went to the Hinkle
house. Past the garden and a well
with good water there was another fence around the house. Mae
and Kay Hinkle had a great family. There was Mary and Martha
(twins), Nanny, Gladys, Pearline,
Johnny, and Eugene. We had great times together. After the
mines shut down, we lived in the Hinkle house until we moved
to Brummit. The Hinkles went to High
Splint, Kentucky in Harlan County near Evarts. Further along
the road at the bottom of a small hill was Dr. Stonecipher’s
office. Then came the garages and down a slope were the big
gates going into the company barn. We (the Jim
Pemberton family) lived past the barn.
The
creek that ran back of our (Jim Pemberton) house was full of mine water,
which was iron and lots of other minerals
that filtered
out
of the waste
that was dumped above the powerhouse. That was called the
slate dump. Sometimes the combustion would cause it to start burning
down below
the surface.
No one
dared
walk on the slate dump for fear of falling in. I remember
someone
lost their cow because it wandered onto the dump and fell
in. But along
the edge of
the dump in the spring when a lot of families were searching
for wild greens, we
would find poke greens that were just coming up. At that
stage it was like spears of asparagus. There were many kinds of
wild
greens,
and
our mothers
knew them
all. Once when we were up there picking greens, I saw a black
snake. I was so scared of snakes, I started to run and then
I realized
I was chasing
the
snake.
Also, I was too close to the edge of the dump. Mom made me
stay along side of her the rest of the time we were there.
Between
the barn, pasture, and powerhouse there were several houses. I only knew
the Kilby family well enough to call
friends. I knew
Carrie and
Otis
and always
felt sad that they lost their father. There were several
houses up the hollow past the powerhouse but I only remember
the Stanfields,
Joe Robinsson,
and
Browns. Grover Brown and Leona Brown; their family included
Guy, Othella, and Buster,
Grover, and Leona.
Back
to the crossing in the right side of the tracks: by the crossing was
the Elliot Nunley family. Uncle Elliot
had a lot
of tall tales
to tell
and some
of us kids would go sit on his porch and listen to his
stories. He had a very nice
flower garden. I know Susie Green was a Nunley and there
was also John, Lula Mae (married a Mr. Halfacre) and
Pauline. Bill
and Susie
Green
lived nearby
with their children Nola, Willie Belle, Bernetta, Nanny
Mae, Dorothy, Carroll and
Johnny. Nola was Betty Sue Schaff’s (Baumgardner)
mom; Willie Belle had a daughter Ida Marie, who lived
with Bill and Susie. The Woolum family lived
above the Greens. To the left of the Nunley and Green
houses up on the mountain were several miners’ homes;
I only knew the Wallace family.
Back
to the crossing: there was a lane to the right of the Nunley’s
that went to the Bunion F. Brown (Poppa) home and they were a very fine
family. Mattie
took care of Poppa and her younger siblings Paul, Bernice,
Freda, and Nancy. I have fond memories of them. Mattie and Mrs. Stout
were close neighbors in Bon
and prior to Bon in East Tennessee; they were great
friends.
Across
the path from the B. F. Brown’s was the home of James and Tennie
Stout. Mrs. Stout was a hard working woman and a
great mother to a large family: Tom, Dick, Harry, Monroe, Gibbs, Louise,
Betty, Boots, and Willene. Beyond the
Stout front gate along the road and path toward the
schoolhouse was the Dewey Bunch family, the community pump at the commissary,
and Dr. Stonecipher’s
where the Gus Fritts family lived after Dr. Stonecipher
moved to town. Next were Mrs. Thomas’s house and the Earl Lovitt
house. Red and Grace Pemberton lived in the Lovitt house across the road
from where the Tom Smith family lived.
The Smith family moved to Savoy and the Ken Bishop
family lived there. After they moved to town, the Stout’s lived
there until the mines closed. Past that house were the West’s and
Lewis Bunch. The Alsips, Curtis Stanafords, Laddermilks (Laudermilk?),
and Melt Lovitts lived down the hollow.
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