PLEASE MAKE THIS CORRECTION TO SAMUEL GIPSON, IT SHOULD READ GIBSON (with a B) SAMUEL GIBSON. THANKS. Sarah Ann > Can anyone with the surnames of MARTIN > & GIBSON tell me who are these people > in the following 1870 Floyd Co. KY census: > > PRECINCT 2 > > 156 MARTIN, ELIZABETH age 58 born VA > GIBSON, SAMUEL 17 VA > > I sure will appreciate any help I can get; thanks. > > Sarah Ann

Can anyone with the surnames of MARTIN & GIPSON/GIBSON tell me who are these people in the following 1870 Floyd Co. KY census: PRECINCT 2 156 MARTIN, ELIZABETH age 58 born VA GIPSON, SAMUEL 17 VA I sure will appreciate any help I can get; thanks. Sarah Ann

Howdy; Linda, your shucking peg was really up-town! Ours were whittled out of hickory or oak. And you left the "pack-saddle's" out of your corn harvesting. For the uninitiated, pack-saddles are caterpillars that feed on corn in late September. They are pretty, having a light green body color, a brown 'saddle' and two horns about a quarter of an inch long on each end. If you touch any one of those 'horns' you will immediately regret it. Their sting is something furious. Corn knives were also used to cut the weeds from the potato patches prior to harvest. David. M. Burke deburgh@scescape.net

<< the movie OCTOBER SKY If we are treated fairly, yes, I want to see it. Even TN Williams, and Falkner made us look nuts and wild.<g> That was Bobby Kennedy trying to sell socialism because us dumb hicks were so poor. Have you eat yankee food or food in CA?? I won't feed my dog that stuff. As others have said, we had the best cooks in the world. If my mother had raised those Kennedy boys they would have been better presidients, and men.<g.> -eddie

My two cents worth. The tool used for shucking corn was called a "shucking peg" and it had a strap which went over your fingers leaving your thumb free. A metal "peg" shaped something like a small spoon projected from the strap in the area of your index finger, and you used that and your thumb to pull the husk loose from the ear. Used one many a time, and when there was ice on the shocked corn stalks that peg was a big help. Stood in the snow many a time and shucked icy corn in order to get enough to take to the mill. My brother and I did most of the farm work and there was never enough time after school and on weekends to get all the corn into the crib before the snows came. Also, the corn was cut one stalk at a time using a corn knife, which had a wooden handle about 2 feet long with a sharp, slightly curved metal knife at the end. You had to be very careful where your leg was or you could get a nasty cut from a corn knife. Once the individual stalks were cut, you gathered up an armful and stood them upright in a shock. I used to hide inside the shocks, sort of like an indian teepee. Linda Hindman_L@mediasoft.net

Date sent: 21 Feb 1999 13:24:13 -0000 From: Wise County Circuit Court <webmaster@courtbar.org> Subject: Innovation Update Wise County Circuit Court - http://www.courtbar.org GREETINGS COURT Subscribers: The real estate electronic index was recently updated and improved to include the Grantor and Grantee indices between January, 1981 and December, 1995. NO digital images linked to the new addition. There are, however, available on CD-ROM. Digital images of land conveyance documents recorded after January 1, 1996 are available FREE through the web upon obtaining a User Name and Password. <http://www.courtbar.org/innovation.htm> For those already with a User Name and Password, we expect our vendor, MIXNET <http://www.mixnet.com>, to update the probate and marriage record indices very soon. Probate indices should span 1856 to 1999. Marriage records are presently being entered back to 1856. Nonetheless, the new marriage record update should be from 1959 to 1999 or 40 years. We hope to complete the marriage indices by late summer. Thereafter, a new indexing project will include militray Veteran Discharges. And, finally, for those who are interested in the budding e-commerce of Wise County, a new site recently developed includes over 300 links focused on Wise County businesses, recreational sites, educational facilities, medical institutions, and much more. <http://www.wisecounty.org/business/> There is also a 'community based' effort to transform the economy to information technology. <http://www.wisecounty.org/ittf> We urge you to visit and surf the two sites. Please advise of any suggestions you have for the Circuit Court Web Page. We always strive to make it a little more User Friendly within our limited resources. Thank you and have a wonderful day. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to courtnews-unsubscribe@listbot.com Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/

Date sent: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 01:43:17 EST To: ehoward@conknet.com Subject: Re: Beans & beds <<Please tell me you are kidding? When I ask for clarification of the terms it was not for myself. Remember that I speak for the List and not just myself. I know what a feather tick is. We never dried green beans, we canned them. Why would someone dry what they could can?? Remember that there are 500 people out there when you post. Please be mindful in several ways. 1) Don't bore people. 2) Most of those 500 people didn't grow up in YOUR home, or town , or state. Some may even be under 40 years old and don't recall the olden days. God forbid they may have had to grow up in the city. 3) Define terms that are not heard on the TV. There is nothing more boring than reading something you don't understand. This List is not here for a few people to chat but to help EVERYONE. 4) These discussions of the old ways are very interesting, entertaining, and helpful but please restrain yourself from telling old family stories that convey no historic or genealogical info. Thank you all and good Sabbath. -sysop

I am not sure how my grandma 'MADE' shuck beans, but I know how she cooked them!!! Take several pounds of shuck beans and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let the beans set for one hour. Drain the beans, and cover with fresh water abt 2 inches above the beans. Add abt. 1 lb of good smoked side- meat cut into squares abt 1/2 inch. Stir well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for several hours or until very tender. Test for seasoning. Add salt, pepper as necessary and sometimes a T of sugar. Serve in a bowl with juice, chopped onions/green onions and either cornbread or hot biscuits. I can't get smoked side meat often, but find that smoked ham hocks can do a pretty good job and these are easier for me to find. If you can't find those, use abt 1lb of chopped ham, or a little less bacon, diced, because it is greasier. Nancy S

Hi Grace, I've been doing cemetery surveys in Dickenson County (I don't live there so I have to do them on weekends and when I can), and came across this little one about to go back to nature. It had a Thomas and Ada DOTSON and was wondering if you had any of these in your database, or better yet, family. (And by the way, thanks for the movie review! I'll go see it now.) Thanks, zen sutherland ------ J C KISER CEMETERY NEAR S. CLINCHFIELD - Russell County, VA LATITUDE/LONGITUDE 365724N 821230W (extrapolated from USGS Quad Map: Carbo, VA) DIRECTIONS >From South Clinchfield, VA go South on Rt 615 for about 1.5 miles. Pass the large (and locally well-known) Kiser Cemetery on your right. Go for approx 4/10 mile around a bend to the left. You will notice there is a creek on the right side of the road. Cross the creek (go north) and walk directly up the hill. There is no path despite what the USGS map indicates. Begin looking for palmetto plants that have escaped the cemetery and a large stand of pines. Several cedar posts are still there and some odd bits of wire that were part of the fence. FIELD NOTES: 2/15/99 This cemetery is in the woods and well-hidden with honeysuckle, greenbriars and small sumac trees. No field stones could be located under the heavy growth despite winter-time conditions. This cemetery will be lost to nature the next USGS revision date. FORMAT Note: Items in parenthesis are the best guess of the researcher. Items in brackets are my comments. A double stone is two people on one stone - usually husband and wife unless otherwise indicated. SURNAME LIST DOTSON, KISER and MCREYNOLDS. LISTING OF GRAVE MARKERS ======================================================== - mother - Mary F. MCREYNOLDS, May 2, 1856 - Feb 13, 1935 Thomas J. MCREYNOLDS, Aug 2, 1873 - Dec 3, 1946 [double stone] Thomas F. DOTSON, 1872 - 1931 Ada A. DOTSON, 1874 - 1941 J. C. KISER, Dec 22, 1859 - Mar 22, 1911 ========================================================

I'm looking for any information on the surname Hammock or Hammack that might have come from this area.Specifically any info on a Daniel Hammock that was born in Virginia about 1797. I have him in Grainger County, Tennessee in 1850 thus he might have came from this area. Thankyou gary naul garyp9242@aol.com

Eddie, Although this is not exactly genealogy and does not exactly concern all of the list members, it is about lifestyles of the families of some of our list members. Back in the 1960s all of us living in the coal fields became known as poor dumb hillbillies after some of the residents of D.C. visited our area. I went to see the movie OCTOBER SKY on Friday night and for the first time since the '60s someone has portrayed us as just plain old normal people trying to make a living and a life for ourselves with what was within our grasp. The movie gives a true picture of life and our lifestyle during that time frame. I'd recommend that anyone who hasn't seen the movie to see it ASAP! Grace Dotson (A coal miners daughter)

RE: "Bolster mattress." I had never heard of a bolster mattress. We had bolster pillows. A bolster pillow was a single pillow that went across the width of the bed. If the bed was 54" wide, the bolster pillow was 54" long, and regular width. I believe the designers of bed linens today are making the bolster pillow. My dau-in-law bought one made by "Eddie Bauer." (Folks, he hasn't got us fooled! His idea isn't new. It's Old! Just a rebirth.) Pat O'Neal -----Original Message----- From: MILanders@aol.com <MILanders@aol.com> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 9:56 PM Subject: shuck beans & featherbeds >Mr. Howard wrote for an explanation of the above subject. I don't know much >about shuck beans, but I know a little about goose feather pillows. Usually >the mattresses (called bolsters) were made of the goose or chicken feathers, >but most people used goose "down", a fluffly part of the feather (at it's >base), to make pillows. I have one on my bed now. It never gets firm or >beaten down. Give it a little punch and it's right back to "fluffy". Also, >feathers and down were sometimes mixed for some bed bolsters. > >Ruth > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#1 When you have a new email address please UNSUBSCRIBE from the >old BEFORE you lose it; and SUBCRIBE from the NEW address as soon >as you get access to it. If you fail to do this please send the >old and new address to: ehoward@conknet.com and the Mailing List name >-sysop > >

I've read so many messages about feather beds, shuck beds and straw beds, I've already taken four naps today. If this keeps up, I'll never find my ancestors!! I am trying to find where the Harrells of Mitchell co. N.C. came from in Va... One time it got so cold up here in the mountains of Va..Some of my cousins who were sleeping upstairs under a shingle roof...all got into one bed and took the featherbed off the other bed and put it on top of them to stay warm!! That was the year when the words froze when people spoke and nobody knew what anybody had said 'till the spring thaw came..and... G. Lee Hearl Abingdon, Va.

Most of what is being said this week end about shuck beans sounds like what my mother in northwest NC calls "leather britches". These are dried green beans that turn brown and are cooked with a ham hock or salt pork meat. The sulphur was added to keep the bugs out as these were stored in a pillow case in the attic. My family still makes "leather britches" beans. It is a favorite dish! Melvin mmmiles@advi.net

>My Montgomerys left the Saltville, Washington Co. area in 1873 and settled >in Greenup Co., KY. I am sure the homemaking ways of my grandmother >(b.1874) were passed down from her Virginia ancestors. I can remember her >singing "Kemo Kymo" but have no idea what it meant. In the 1940s I spent >part of my summers with my oldest aunt on the farm. I loved going there >and felt like I was really roughing it. By the standards of her neighbors >they were "well off". Her cellar had sloping rock walls with iris and >other flowers growing between the rocks. Atop the cellar was the >smokehouse. They had a large screened back porch where they ate in summer >and in the corner was a well box. I thought it was really clever that >they didn't have to go outside to draw water. Has anyone else ever seen >such a well? Later on she got fancy and had a little red pump and sink >installed. She boiled the men's overalls with lye soap in an iron pot over >an open fire. She made apple butter in a copper kettle outside and the >aroma was wonderful. She had a "safe", a cherry cabinet with glass doors, >where the leftover buscuits and cornbread were kept by a jar of jam. A >hungry kid could always find a snack there. Her garden was bordered with >dahlias and people would stop just to admire her flowers. >I always wondered how she knew when I had sneaked into the sauerkrout jar. >It was years later when I realized I had probably left dirty hand prints on >the white cloth covering the kraut. She taught me that the proper way to >make a feather bed was to take the broom handle and smooth it out. I hope >I haven't misused the list with these loving recollections. > >Sue McN. > >This just in from my 89 yr. old mother: Kemo Kymo Hick to my hack Hit him on the back With my bootjack.

We are down here in Texas and "shucks" are used to wrap around Tamales after they are made..... Remember Pres Ford tried to eat a tamale with the shuck still on it. I guess the color of it on the tamale confussed him, as they are the same color as the tamale. They are still made the same as they were 100 years ago. margie in tx -----Original Message----- From: G. Lee Hearl <glh@naxs.com> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 7:50 PM Subject: Re: Shuckie Beans >My mother used to grow a variety of beans called "sulpher beans". She may >have grown them especially for making "shuck beans", I don't know..After >the beans were dry she stored them in flour sacks for the winter...but I >don't remember her putting anything on them before storing them..Some >sulpher might have kept bugs out, but when tied tightly in a flour sack no >bugs could get to them anyway.. >Also, some one asked what "shucks" are, the ones used in a bed tick, well, >that type of shuck came from the plant growth surrounding ears of >corn..Removing the ear of corn was called "shucking corn". Farmers had a >special tool, worn on the hand, for shucking corn.. >G. Lee Hearl Abingdon, Va. > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be found at >http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm >You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the >LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. >

My mother used to grow a variety of beans called "sulpher beans". She may have grown them especially for making "shuck beans", I don't know..After the beans were dry she stored them in flour sacks for the winter...but I don't remember her putting anything on them before storing them..Some sulpher might have kept bugs out, but when tied tightly in a flour sack no bugs could get to them anyway.. Also, some one asked what "shucks" are, the ones used in a bed tick, well, that type of shuck came from the plant growth surrounding ears of corn..Removing the ear of corn was called "shucking corn". Farmers had a special tool, worn on the hand, for shucking corn.. G. Lee Hearl Abingdon, Va.

Shuck beans are dried 'green beans'. They are a brownish color and very savory when cooked with salt pork. We would string them on strong thread and hang them up to dry...then put them into pillow cases for the winter....usually hanging on the sun porch. My grandfather was from Morgan Co., Ky but his grandparents were from Scott Co., VA.and I assume this dish came from there. My mother said he did something to them with sulfur (smoking, I think), but she doesn't remember exactly what he did. She said she was too busy running after kids to pay attention. It may be the same thing as sulfured fruit, but I don't know what that is. I have a Native American cookbook and this dish is in it(called "leather britches beans"), but no mention of sulfur. My mother says it is the sulfur that gives it the characteristic flavor. Mary msouth@ic.net

If you are going to talk about shucks beans and feather beds please define or explain the terms and items so the unenlightened with know what you are talking about and not be bored.<g> I know what a goose is. I know what a bean is.

You were eight before you got your own bed? I was 16. Army Cots: I was seven, my sister was nine (during WW2). We slept together on an army cot. She, at one end. I slept at the other end. We never did figure out which of us was sleeping at the foot of the bed!!!! (My stories are all in a family history book which I entitled "Room At The Foot Of The Bed." Very appropriate title for a family of 13 siblings, don't you think? Shuck beans were a specialty item. A lot of work went into the preparation of those beans. -----Original Message----- From: Mark Quillen <patch1@inetone.net> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 6:59 PM Subject: Re: SW_VA-D Digest V99 #67 >You guys must be some of the more affluent, feather beds, yet :) I grew up >in a coal mining town, Toms Creek, VA. I never had my own bed until I was 8 >yr.. of age. Then my mom bought an army cot and made me a STRAW mattress. >Loaded it down with quilts that were so heavy that it was hard to turn over. >I felt like a princess to have not to sleep with someone!!!! Remember shuck >beans & pickled corn and molasses makin' ? >-----Original Message----- >From: SW_VA-D-request@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-D-request@rootsweb.com> >To: SW_VA-D@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-D@rootsweb.com> >Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 5:50 PM >Subject: SW_VA-D Digest V99 #67 > > > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#1 When you have a new email address please UNSUBSCRIBE from the >old BEFORE you lose it; and SUBCRIBE from the NEW address as soon >as you get access to it. If you fail to do this please send the >old and new address to: ehoward@conknet.com and the Mailing List name >-sysop > >