Lovely story Sandi. Good memories. Thanks, Della > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. THE QUILTING BEE (Sandra K. Gorin) > 2. Genetic Genealogy Journal Posting of the Appalachians > Dark-Skinned People (Jeannie Gregory) > 3. Quilting ([email protected]) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 08:55:36 -0500 > From: "Sandra K. Gorin" <[email protected]> > Subject: [SCKY] THE QUILTING BEE > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed > > The following story is taken from the Spring 1999 issue of Broomsedge > Chronicles. This was written by Julie Massengill of Glasgow as told > her by WIlma Pierce of Harrogate, TN in 1999. > > "My mother, Wilma Pierce, grew up in a small community in the hills > of Tennessee called Tazewell, which is located in Claborne County. In > the early 1940's, generally in January or February, Mom recalls as a > child accompanying her mother, Irene Hansard, to quilting bees, which > were a big event. They walked across the hills in the cold of winter > wearing long stockings on their legs and handmade dresses that had > been sewn by Grandma. But before the quilting bee could happen, > several steps took place. > > "First, the men of the community began assembling a quilting frame, > which would last for years. The frame consisted of a total of four > boards, two long and two short, giving the frame a rectangular shape. > The short boards crossed over the long boards, leaving an extension > protruding from each end. Each of the four boards had tacks placed > about every four to six inches apart where the quilt would be > attached very tightly. Every board also had holes drilled every > twelve inches so that a nail with a head could be dropped into it for > sizing of the frame. These holes allowed the ladies to roll their > finished work under the frame in order to decrease their work space > and make quilts of different sizes. The corners of the short boards > had large holes in which strings were tied and then attached to > ten-foot high ceilings, so the quilt could be rolled up along the > frame to the ceiling until another quilting day. > > "On the day of a quilting bee, the farmers' slim wives assembled and > stitched the quilt together. First, they placed the back of the > quilt, which was usually muslin (heavy or sheer cotton cloths of > plain weave), on the frame. Second, they carefully laid a layer of > cotton on top of the muslin, making sure both layers were pulled > tightly over the tacks on the frame. Last was the quilt top, the > heart of the quilt which someone in the community had stitched > together from cut pieces of material, designing the fabric into > pictures, patterns, or appliqued patchwork. Many quilt tops were > signed and dated, while others had an intentional mistake of turning > a piece of fabric backward, upside down or sideways. The makers of > the quilt tops did this because only God could create something that > was perfect. After each layer was placed tightly and securely over > the tacks on the frame, the ladies sewed the layers together with > short running stitches, called quilting stitches. Three to four women > lined up on each side of the quilt and began working right away with > their thimbles on their fingers, their needles sewing swiftly, and > their scissors close at hand. > > "Lastly, the quilting bees for a time for children and adults to > enjoy the social gathering of the day. It was a time for the children > to play and have fun, and the women to talk and visit with one > another. Everyone didn't quilt at the same time. Some quilted, some > cooked, and some cared for the children, but they all cared about > their families and neighbors. They talked about the community and the > people in it, but this was never gossip because these Christian women > figured out ways to help one another or someone in need. So truly > more went into the quilts than stitches because they were filled with > the care and love of all the neighborhood ladies. Mom recalls that > her fondest memories were those wonderful times that were spent with > one another at the quilting bees. > > "Unfortunately, quilting bees are becoming a thing of the past. Even > my mother doesn't quilt -- she only pieces the quilt tops together. > She never learned the art of quilting even though she had one of the > best teachers. However, her quilt tops are beautiful and cherished by > all four of her children, especially me even though I never learned > to sew. For my generation, the art of making beautiful quilts is > dying out, but the biggest loss is the closeness of the community > pulling together to love and to help one another. The quilting bees > were a time to visit, to care, and to love. The quilts were an extra > bonus." > > Happy Memorial Day - Sandi > > > To post to lists: [email protected] or > [email protected] > Sandi's Puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php > Sandi's Website: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 11:05:51 -0400 > From: Jeannie Gregory <[email protected]> > Subject: [SCKY] Genetic Genealogy Journal Posting of the Appalachians > Dark-Skinned People > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: > <[email protected]om> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been > made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents > once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were > descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or > Gypsies. > Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to > separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found > the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the > families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan > African men and white women of northern or central European origin. > And that report, which was published in April in the peer-reviewed > journal, > doesn't sit comfortably with some people who claim Melungeon ancestry. > "There were a whole lot of people upset by this study," lead researcher > Roberta Estes said. "They just knew they were Portuguese, or Native > American." > Beginning in the early 1800s, or possibly before, the term Melungeon > (meh-LUN'-jun) was applied as a slur to a group of about 40 families along > the Tennessee-Virginia border. But it has since become a catch-all phrase > for a number of groups of mysterious mixed-race ancestry. > In recent decades, interest in the origin of the Melungeons has risen > dramatically with advances both in DNA research and in the advent of > Internet resources that allow individuals to trace their ancestry without > digging through dusty archives. > G. Reginald Daniel, a sociologist at the University of California-Santa > Barbara who's spent more than 30 years examining multiracial people in the > U.S. and wasn't part of this research, said the study is more evidence > that > race-mixing in the U.S. isn't a new phenomenon. > "All of us are multiracial," he said. "It is recapturing a more authentic > U.S. history." > Estes and her fellow researchers theorize that the various Melungeon lines > may have sprung from the unions of black and white indentured servants > living in Virginia in the mid-1600s, before slavery. > They conclude that as laws were put in place to penalize the mixing of > races, the various family groups could only intermarry with each other, > even migrating together from Virginia through the Carolinas before > settling > primarily in the mountains of East Tennessee. > Claims of Portuguese ancestry likely were a ruse they used in order to > remain free and retain other privileges that came with being considered > white, according to the study's authors. > The study quotes from an 1874 court case in Tennessee in which a Melungeon > woman's inheritance was challenged. If Martha Simmerman were found to have > African blood, she would lose the inheritance. > Her attorney, Lewis Shepherd, argued successfully that the Simmerman's > family was descended from ancient Phoenicians who eventually migrated to > Portugal and then to North America. > Writing about his argument in a memoir published years later, Shepherd > stated, "Our Southern high-bred people will never tolerate on equal terms > any person who is even remotely tainted with negro blood, but they do not > make the same objection to other brown or dark-skinned people, like the > Spanish, the Cubans, the Italians, etc." > In another lawsuit in 1855, Jacob Perkins, who is described as "an East > Tennessean of a Melungeon family," sued a man who had accused him of > having > "negro blood." > In a note to his attorney, Perkins wrote why he felt the accusation was > damaging. Writing in the era of slavery ahead of the Civil War, Perkins > noted the racial discrimination of the age: "1st the words imply that we > are liable to be indicted (equals) liable to be whipped (equals) liable to > be fined ... " > Later generations came to believe some of the tales their ancestors wove > out of necessity. > Jack Goins, who has researched Melungeon history for about 40 years and > was > the driving force behind the DNA study, said his distant relatives were > listed as Portuguese on an 1880 census. Yet he was taken aback when he > first had his DNA tested around 2000. Swabs taken from his cheeks > collected > the genetic material from saliva or skin cells and the sample was sent to > a > laboratory for identification. > "It surprised me so much when mine came up African that I had it done > again," he said. "I had to have a second opinion. But it came back the > same > way. I had three done. They were all the same." > In order to conduct the larger DNA study, Goins and his fellow researchers > ? who are genealogists but not academics ? had to define who was a > Melungeon. > In recent years, it has become a catchall term for people of mixed-race > ancestry and has been applied to about 200 communities in the eastern U.S. > ? from New York to Louisiana. > Among them were the Montauks, the Mantinecocks, Van Guilders, the > Clappers, > the Shinnecocks and others in New York. Pennsylvania had the Pools; North > Carolina the Lumbees, Waccamaws and Haliwas and South Carolina the > Redbones, Buckheads, Yellowhammers, Creels and others. In Louisiana, which > somewhat resembled a Latin American nation with its racial mixing, there > were Creoles of the Cane River region and the Redbones of western > Louisiana, among others. > The latest DNA study limited participants to those whose families were > called Melungeon in the historical records of the 1800s and early 1900s in > and around Tennessee's Hawkins and Hancock Counties, on the Virginia > border > some 200 miles northeast of Nashville. > The study does not rule out the possibility of other races or ethnicities > forming part of the Melungeon heritage, but none were detected among the > 69 > male lines and 8 female lines that were tested. Also, the study did not > look for later racial mixing that might have occurred, for instance with > Native Americans. > Goins estimates there must be several thousand descendants of the > historical Melungeons alive today, but the study only examined unbroken > male and female lines. > The origin of the word Melungeon is unknown, but there is no doubt it was > considered a slur by white residents in Appalachia who suspected the > families of being mixed race. > "It's sometimes embarrassing to see the lengths your ancestors went to > hide > their African heritage, but look at the consequences" said Wayne Winkler, > past president of the Melungeon Heritage Association. "They suffered > anyway > because of the suspicion." > The DNA study is ongoing as researchers continue to locate additional > Melungeon descendants. > ___ > Associated Press Writer Cain Burdeau contributed to this story from New > Orleans > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 12:24:01 -0400 (EDT) > From: [email protected] > Subject: [SCKY] Quilting > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > When I was a small child, women in our neighborhood would gather to help > with quilting. Since I am/was a depression child, we did not have a lot > of toys etc. We played with whatever we could think up. While the ladies > were quilting at "our" house, we would play under the frame and quilt. We > had shoe boxes, Sears Roebuck catalogs and scissors. We would cut out the > furniture, people (no paper dolls) and whatever and paste them into the > shoe boxes which was the home of our make believe families. I must tell > my grandchildren this story. > > Mary June Foulk > > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY list administrator, send an email to > [email protected] > > To post a message to the SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY mailing list, send an > email to [email protected] > > __________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] > with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body > of the > email with no additional text. > > > End of SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY Digest, Vol 7, Issue 105 > ******************************************************