I've enjoyed the stories of New River life tremendously! However, the mention of shuck beans caught my eye. One summer we made these and I seem to recall my grandfather doing something to them with sulfer. Does anyone know how to actually make them...besides stringing them up to dry? They were one of my favorite winter foods. I've made them in a food dehydrator but they don't taste the same as my grandfather's "shuckie beans". Mary South msouth@ic.net PS. We still use pillows made from my mother's feather bed.

Could it be that the sulfur was used in the same kind of way the people smoke salmon?

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

-----Original Message----- From: Pat Oneal [SMTP:peon@icx.net] Sent: Saturday, February 20, 1999 3:46 PM To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Feather beds Ruth, Featherbeds/bolster pillows were never bought. Each family made their own. My mother had featherbeds which were later (1950s) turned into pillows. I let my son take one of mine to Florida one summer (late 70s). I have never forgiven him for leaving it at the home of a friend on his return trip. Mama said they plucked the feathers from geese and the soft feathers around the neck were used to make down pillows. It used to make me so mad to turn over in bed and have the quill of a feather sticking through the ticking. Pillows and featherbeds were aired in spring and fall. Now and then Mama would replace the ticking. Can you imagine trying to transfer the feathers from one ticking cover to another. Feathers were everywhere. Check some of the old Wills. You'll see where they willed featherbeds to wives and daughters. Pat ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #6 HELP is available from the sysop/owner anytime at: ehoward@conknet.com or swvaroot@swva.net [Pam Moehling] The feather pillows and the old way of stuffing them still exsists today.. Every spring I buy new material to make the "tickings" and my mom, who will be 89 in May goes to the back porch (on a day that is VERY calm) and stuffs the new pillows for me...there just wonderful.. My Aunt Ethel had several featherbeds..but I always felt like I was smothering when we got into them... Pam

We lived in a single constructed house in Lee County, Va. It had one of the high porches with the lattice work around the ground level. A section could be taken loose and our tater hole was under the porch. My dad dug it down in the dirt, lined it with straw and then old newspapers (Knoxville News Sentinel). The potatoes were then put in and then the process was reversed with the newspaper and straw and then tar paper was put over the top of the hole. They lasted all winter this way. Then we had a fruit cellar under the garage. My mother canned hundreds of cans of vegs. and fruit. We always managed to run out before the garden came on the next summer. With six kids to feed it was no wonder. I was a post-depression baby so I guess I qualify for some of these "olden days stories". These were strong people! BevK.

This is some thing my grandmother use to sing.... Has anyone ever heard of it before? Kemo Kymo Delto Sharo Strim Stram Pompa Dittle Rare Bum A Rig Rig Rum Body Mitt A Kymo She would play it on the piano I do wish I knew what it is..... Do not know if the words are totally correct, but it is as my Mother remembers it. My Mother is 91 and sharp as a tack on remembering things. Margie Phelps Corpus Christi, Tx Searching everwhere for: Boones, Bradleys, Easts, Gibsons, Phelps, Garners, Hendricks, Pophams, Williams, Eichhorns, Bryans, Overshiner, Foglesong, Swartz, Dowdall, Hinds, Skaggs, Morgans and prob a few more if I look

Still have a four generation feather bed at my house! My children think I must be out to lunch to keep that old thing. But would not part with it for love nor money. My granny left it to me, the only one of 23 grandchildren that cried to sleep in that featherbed even in the heat of the summer. I grew up in Florida and spent summers at my grandmother in Bristol, TN/VA. So those warm summer nights there were a little chilly to me, and the feather bed was just right! Still twice a year it is hung over the fence and a broom taken to it. A little more gently now than in years past. I have found that dust covers work swell as the temporary new ticking. A full size comforter cover is just perfect. they come in all color and material types. Yes you still get the occasional poke in the middle of the night. But that is half the fun! Also the commercial dryers at the laundry mat set on low works wonders on the mattress as well, feather really plump up! Heard that one from my Great Aunt that still uses her feather bed. Teresa jatsh@msn.com Hughes, Clark, Capwell, Bennick, Schaub PA/FL Anderson, Horton, Herron Jeter, Snapp, VA/TN/FL

Ruth, Featherbeds/bolster pillows were never bought. Each family made their own. My mother had featherbeds which were later (1950s) turned into pillows. I let my son take one of mine to Florida one summer (late 70s). I have never forgiven him for leaving it at the home of a friend on his return trip. Mama said they plucked the feathers from geese and the soft feathers around the neck were used to make down pillows. It used to make me so mad to turn over in bed and have the quill of a feather sticking through the ticking. Pillows and featherbeds were aired in spring and fall. Now and then Mama would replace the ticking. Can you imagine trying to transfer the feathers from one ticking cover to another. Feathers were everywhere. Check some of the old Wills. You'll see where they willed featherbeds to wives and daughters. Pat

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

My granny used to pluck her geese to get the down for pillows. She held them between her knees to pluck them and she said they would screech "Quit it", "Quit it". When mom told us that it used to tickle our funny bone. BevK.

<< My grandmother grew up near the New River at Mouth of Wilson. >> I love all these stories of early life in SWVA. I am trying to write the history of my paternal family and to prevent it from just being pages of dates and places I am trying to include the living conditions, clothing styles, and etc of the period when each generation was born. Not only has this proven to be a great learning experience for me, but I hope it will add "flavor" to the book.>>> EXCELLENT!!! This is why I created this List. Names, dates, & places are very important. For many this is most important. That's fine. BUT, I, for one, strongly believe, no, I'm sure, we will meet our familes someday in the hereafter. The more we know of them, the closer we can be to them. I knew only one grandparent, my grandmother Howard. I want to know all about them. I want to know what it was like to fight Indians, to fight white men, to charge the Angle at Gettysburg, to charge up Kings Mt., or hide behind a tree while the others charged up. (I'm no romantic when it comes to genealogy<g> ) Let's research, look for cemeteries, bibles, and wills & deeds. And share them for the benefit of all. -eddie, sysop

Members, Below are the people who brings us this List [and all Rootsweb List] FREE. Except for the few bucks I send them once a year. They put in mega-hours of their own time and much of their own money. The buy thousands of $$$$ of equipment each year. They deserve your support. -sysop/owner/eddie DONATIONS TO HELP SUPPORT ROOTSWEB ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels/benefits and payment options, please visit: <http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html> or send e-mail to: <RW-info@rootsweb.com>. RootsWeb's address is: RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please include your e-mail address on all correspondence and checks.)

Pat, Yes, I think that was common in the 19th and early 20th century but how was it used and how long into the summer would it last? Did they may ice cream?? With fresh strawberries?? Hmmmmmmmmmmm!!! -eddie My grandmother grew up near the New River at Mouth of Wilson. During the summer months, when wood was cut for the winter's use, for construction, etc., all of the sawdust was carefully saved to use as insulation for the ice cellar. When winter arrived and the river was frozen over, her father and brothers would take a sled pulled by large work horses to the river. Slabs of ice would be cut and loaded onto the sled and pulled back to the cellar [cut into the side of a steep bank] and packed in sawdust, This was always one of my favorite stories told to me by my grandmother, and I thought the group might enjoy it as well. Pat Burris ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #6 HELP is available from the sysop/owner anytime at: ehoward@conknet.com or swvaroot@swva.net

Dear Doris: I was not offended by your posting. I love history and am a first grade teacher. A teacher loves to share information and impart it to others. That is why we are teachers. It is certainly not for the money. In fact, most teachers do not teach for the paycheck but for the love of seeing learning taking place. I am stuck with John McCoy in Scott Co. VA in l870. All I know is that he was born in NC. He married Sarah Rose who was born in Scott Co. VA. He had a son on Dec. 6, l870 in Scott Co. VA. I am not sure your postings will help me but I look at all the postings because some day I might hit upon something I can use. I apprecaite your dedication and time spent. Keep up the good work! Don't let the squeaking wheels of inconsiderate boobs get to you! You've been a teacher and you know we are not appreciated. So you just keep on being your generous self and know that there are a lot more of us quiet, smooth running learners appreciating your time and effort! God Bless!

My grandmother grew up near the New River at Mouth of Wilson. During the summer months, when wood was cut for the winter's use, for construction, etc., all of the sawdust was carefully saved to use as insulation for the ice cellar. When winter arrived and the river was frozen over, her father and brothers would take a sled pulled by large work horses to the river. Slabs of ice would be cut and loaded onto the sled and pulled back to the cellar [cut into the side of a steep bank] and packed in sawdust, This was always one of my favorite stories told to me by my grandmother, and I thought the group might enjoy it as well. Pat Burris

Heavy cast-iron woodburning stoves were in the kitchens, used for cooking food for large families. Fact or fiction (who knows but my mother). She was constantly late for school, and one morning when she was late the teacher said to her, "Alright, Marie, why are you late this morning"? Said Marie, "Well, teacher, my mom lost a cap off the stove, and I had to sit over the hole while she fried eggs for breakfast! She had to sit in the floor until lunchtime. Knowing my mother, I'm just about sure she told the teacher that excuse. Sorry, Mr. Howard. If this isn't acceptable, I promise to keep to geneology from now on. Ruth

I loved sinking into my aunt's featherbed. Weren't they a hold-over from the pioneer days? The one I sunk into, I'm sure, was not a new item. It had belonged to her mother and dad. Ruth

This might be an interesting story to read.. Use Netscape search and go Miami County Indiana. There is a biography on "Benjamin Dye and Corn Shucking". He was my dad. A really good corn shucker. - Helen Dye McCauley in Indiana.<emac@thepoint.net>

Pat: Your story reminds me of some told to me by my grandfather and dad, about life along the New River...my folks were in the Jackson's Ferry area of Wythe Co. My dad fondly recalls just how good the apples were that were stored in the dirt cellar and saved until winter. It is so hard to imagine their ways of life and yet it makes most of us very appreciative of what we have and respectful of what our ancestors endured. Debbie

In a message dated 2/20/99 4:55:05 PM !!!First Boot!!!, dburris@ls.net writes: << My grandmother grew up near the New River at Mouth of Wilson. >> I love all these stories of early life in SWVA. I am trying to write the history of my paternal family and to prevent it from just being pages of dates and places I am trying to include the living conditions, clothing styles, and etc of the period when each generation was born. Not only has this proven to be a great learning experience for me, but I hope it will add "flavor" to the book. Judy